A Change of Heart
by SageWobily
Summary: Loki, banished to Midgard, ripped of his magic and cursed by a spell that renders him incapable of telling lies, finds himself in Stark Tower, thoroughly annoyed, much like the Man of Iron himself. Situations ensure that they will have to work together, but this doesn't always work out so well. Warning: FrostIron.
1. Chapter 1) A not so warm welcome

**Chapter one) A not so warm welcome.**

There were certain things simply _not done_, if Tony Stark had anything to say about it. One of these things were leather briefcases, another were pants that were cut off too short at the bottoms and last but not least; welcoming a would-be destroyer of New York back into the Tower said destroyer had nearly destroyed. But, there were some things that even Tony Stark couldn't change.

"You found him where?" Tony asked once again, as Steve Rogers was hauling the unconscious body of the God over his door step. "No, no, nevermind, I don't want to hear the whole story again. Just lay him down somewhere. Out of my sight, preferably."

"He is hostile," said Steve, while Tony conveniently stepped towards the counter to get himself a drink that he truly did deserve this time.

"Really, hadn't noticed," Tony replied sarcastically, while Steve was still trying his best to get Loki up onto the couch. "For a... puny God he weighs quite a bit, it seems. Or are you feeling a little... off, Rogers?" he said, the question not actually being a question at all. "Just leave him there," he added, watching Loki fall back down to the area between the couch and the coffee table. Now on to the matter of Loki actually waking up; "If he breaks anything, he'll pay for it. No, he'll have to magic it all back. Do you think he can clean with that stick of destiny of his? Oh wait, he doesn't have it anymore, of course." The string of thought was out, before he finally got his attention on the glass and the bottle and poured himself the drink.

"I'm flattered you think me capable of knocking him unconscious while he was able to use all his magic, but do you really think a God would stay unconscious for a three block walk and an elevator ride?"

Tony shrugged, quite willing to believe Steve was capable of such a deed. He had a few sips of his drink as he stepped towards Loki, who was in a seemingly uncomfortable position, lying face down on the carpet. Even without being able to cast a proper look at his face Tony was able to make a few clear distinctions between the God he'd met before and the one that was lying, dangerously out of it, on his floor. "He's a little pale, isn't he?" he asked. Again not an actual question. He realized he did that a lot.

"So, what will we do with him?" Steve asked, setting them on the track of 'important issues that needed attending'. All he received for a while was a shrug, as Tony continued to observe the body on his floor and take a few sips of his drink.

"I suppose we could bury him alive."

In the end the decision fell that it would be best to have Steve out of the Tower before the God would wake up and do another attempt at outing his anger on the captain, this time for knocking him out. Instead, Tony was seated on one of the chairs, waiting for the God to stir into consciousness, while he patiently continued to sip his drink.

After a few minutes he wondered whether perhaps the God had fallen asleep, or was dead after all, which another few minutes later was proven not the case as Loki's arm suddenly moved, twitched somewhat as if he did not have full control of it. He let out a groan, a low, hoarse one and then tried to push himself up.

"There we go," Tony said, watching the God tense his shoulders and release the tension again in an attempt to loosen his muscles. A moment later Loki's attention had snapped wide awake and he had turned to face Tony. He also slid halfway back down to the ground as at least one of his legs and one of his arms was fast asleep, Tony presumed this was the reason for his drunk behaviour anyway.

"What - ?" Loki began, eyes looked around the room for a moment, before coming to rest on Tony's again.

"Surprise. Yeah, it's as bad as you think," Tony replied, smiling a second, before shooting him a serious look again, that might also be perceived as a bored one. He liked to show Loki just how little effect the God's presence had on him.

Loki gathered himself up from the ground after a few attempts of trying to push himself up on a still sleeping arm, causing Stark only more amusement. "You could have asked for a hand, I would have given you one," he looked down at his hand as Loki pulled himself up by grasping hold of the couch, a slightly vicious look on his face. "Ah, maybe not." Tony lowered his hand again and took a sip of his drink. After all, if he had expected Loki to comply to his offer, he wouldn't have offered. He didn't like giving people hands. Not in the literal way.

"What am I doing _here_?" Loki asked, as if he found himself in the foulest pit of torment. The look of anger in his eyes as he pushed himself in some kind of standing position remained, hand searching for the armrest. He must be dizzy.

"Oh, well, Steve, the Captain, found you somewhere and knocked you out when you started wincing. He was just a few blocks away from my Tower and figured - wrongly - he might as well drop you off here," Tony said. This was as much of Steve's story he'd picked up on, as he hadn't been too interested in the rest. He motioned towards the couch Loki was standing beside. "Sit or something, really, you must be dizzy," Tony said, his expression remaining neutral from the insulting words he's spoken in the God's direction.

With a soft grumble, the God looked around the room and decided to indeed take a seat. "So where's your..." Tony moved his hand around the area above his own head, indicating the horns that Loki wore last time he'd not-so-casually visited Earth. Loki rolled his eyes dismissively, which took over the slightly crazed look he'd had before. Tony let out a soft chuckle. "How long are you visiting for? Or is it no visit?"

Loki grumbled softly and looked the other way, which reminded him of when he'd mentioned Thor just before he was thrown out of the window by the evil God. He laughed again as Loki did no attempt to actually do something similar. "What was that?" Tony asked, only to annoy the God a little more. He got no answer though, _yet. _"So what happened to you when you got back home? Did the muzzle stay on for long?" he asked, moving his hand over his mouth to put emphasis on the muzzle.

Loki just looked at him, eyes narrowed, as if he was trying to pain him, threaten him, but what with? Thor wouldn't have sent him to Earth with powers and he would have followed him, were Loki to escape. It looked like the God had been down here on Earth for quite a while, seeing the craze in his eyes, the slightly frantic hairdo and the paler-than-normal skin. Thor would have found him by now if Loki wasn't supposed to be here.

He got up and set his glass down on the coffee table, walking round to the back of the couch, where Loki could only see him vaguely on his reflection in the glass. "What are you here for? Are you thinking of new little plans you can create to make Earth's population ehm... how did you put it? 'Kneel'?" Tony laughed softly. "You do know that here people don't kneel for anyone," Stark said, "...well, except if they're proposing marriage, but I don't think that's what you're expecting," Tony added sarcastically.

"I don't need your advice," the God sneered and something about the way he did that gave away exactly how lost he was. Much of Loki's former self-control seemed lost behind those piercing eyes. Eyes that Tony remembered to be blue - he frowned, though decided that it was of little importance. It wasn't like it had been his biggest concern back then, but something told him he would've remembered their colour should he have seen it before.

"You never answered my questions, though," Tony said, somewhat disappointed, though it was all played. "I bet you got quite the reality check back in - " he motioned skywards " - that Asgard planet thing."

"It is not of your concern," Loki replied, coldness laying thick on his words. It caused Tony to sigh in annoyance. If only the God could show some friendliness they might be able to get through this conversation relatively unharmed.

"No, but I like the gossip." If looks could kill... Tony would've suffered heavily, twice. "So, was it as bad as the old folklore? With the snakes and the chains and the crucifixes - though, those are reserved for Christianity I assume."

Loki gave him another murderous look. "Asgard is different than your Midgardian _fiction _portrays the world of Gods," Loki spoke mockingly.

"Yeah, yeah, of course," Tony said, a chuckle leaving him. "It must hurt to realise that you were overpowered by some 'fiction'," Tony said, already taking a step back from Loki, knowing he would take that to heart. "Okay, maybe that went a little bit far, sorr- it is true though."

Loki's eyes narrowed and he stepped around the couch, moving towards Tony. "Do you like my new interior, by the way? Changed it a bit, made it more... ehm, me," Tony said, trying to distract the God from what he'd just said, but also not being able to avoid from mocking Loki in this way. Loki had left and everything had gone back to normal. New York was as good as rebuilt and his building was as good as new. And guess what? Iron Man, Captain America, the Hulk, Black Widow, Hawkeye and Thor - despite his absence - where worshiped only more, for saving their beautiful city.

"I don't care for your petty 'apartment' and your pretty little pieces of furniture," Loki sneered. Tony chuckled, enjoying the anger he brought the other as he knew that Loki could do him no harm, not without his magic, and definitely not in the weak body he owned now.

"Then what do you care for?" Tony asked, moving behind the bar to pour himself another drink.

"Ruling Earth," Loki said, his eyes narrowing slightly. "I am a God, everyone will worship me," Loki said, a crazed grin on his face. "I will get everyone to kneel for me, I will be the leader they desired. Even you will kneel, eventually."

"Yeah, or not," Tony said softly, sipping his drink. "So if you want to rule the human race," Tony started, moving out from behind the bar, standing before the God and spreading his arms invitingly, "show me how you're going to do it. Show me how a _God _can convince me to worship him."

He could see in the God's eyes the many thoughts that crossed Loki's mind. After a moment the God merely sniggered, quite insultingly so. "You merely intent to mock me, but I will not bow down to childish behaviour," he said. "I assure you, I will rise to power once more. After all; I've lived more days than you have taken breaths. I have time. And - more importantly - " he inched closer and Tony felt his guards raise, though did not back away. Hey, backing away was not on his list of traits! "Most importantly;" the God's voice had lowered, as their closer proximity allowed for Tony to hear him perfectly should he whisper. "I want it."

"Ah, yes, well," Tony quickly replied, turning away from Loki to step back to the counter, having a few sips of his drink. This wasn't backing away, this was casually using the large space of your apartment to get as far away from your enemy as you could, because... you wanted to. "You wanted to last time, but you failed."

"I didn't _fail_!" Loki replied and the word came off his lips like a mother would speak of the murderer of her only child. "Failure comes with giving up and I, most certainly, did not."

"Well, excuse me for overlooking that tat bit of information," Tony said, continuing to sip his drink quite casually.

"You will regret every foul word you have spoken to me," Loki said, his eyes narrowed. "You will be the first to be punished for what you've-"

"Punished?" Tony interrupted Loki disrespectfully. "You never mentioned punishment in your little world-ruling scheme. So, who will it be? The negros, homosexuals, handicapped and Jews? Or will you go for every religious man and woman?" Tony asked, raising his eyebrows. "We already had a man like that ruling Earth, Loki, we don't need another. We don't need a _leader,_and if you're not convinced, talk to Steve."

Loki shook his eyes at Tony in disbelief. "You don't get it, do you? You don't understand your own race and don't tell me that I'm wrong, I've known the human race longer than you have," Loki sneered.

"You're forgetting one important thing there," Tony said, stepping down from the kitchen, glass in hand, one finger pointing at Loki, "I _am _the human race," Tony said. "I am a human. I know what it's like to be a human. Loki, _you_are the one not understanding things."

"The human race works the best when under the power of a higher authorities," Loki said.

"The human race is a beautiful one that develops because they have emotions and emotional connections. You can not treat a person as a 'thing' and therefore you can't rule them as 'things' in boxes. People make art and compose music, they write books and poetry and they have done forever. Why would you remove what makes the human race, the human race?"

"It is you with your delusions and assumptions once more," Loki said, almost more to himself than Tony, which was exactly why he meant the words for Tony. The God seemed to like playing these kind of games, which was fine with Tony, who rather enjoyed them too. "This is the only race of humanity you know, but it is not the only one it can be. It could be free of freedom! Free of all the things that cause you petty problems and dreams of unreachable goals, that will only crush your pride in the end!"

"Last time I checked it was the human race that reached their goal of crushing you _and_your army," Tony replied matter-of-factly. Ah, they could keep at this all night, but frankly that was not what Tony was planning to do. "So, you planning to stay?"

Loki rolled his eyes at the change of subject. "Stay where? Here?" he asked, looking Tony over in a disgusted manner. "With _you_?" Tony let out a chuckle as he acted in such a way.

"Yes, with me. Who else?" Tony said, drinking the whole content of his glass. Loki couldn't answer the question he asked, of course. "I've got a spare bedroom down the hall from mine you can stay in, if you don't make a mess, because, I don't like mess," Tony said, clearing that out. "I've got cereal and other 'Midgardian' foods in the kitchen here you can eat. Make yourself at home or-" Tony chuckled softly, "whatever you call it up there." As Tony didn't feel in the slightest intimidated he managed to find it in him to see Loki for not only the monster he was, but as the person Tony simply needed to deal with for the time being, until a better solution came along.

Loki grumbled at the kindness of Tony's words. He didn't want to stay here, it was obvious, but where else was he going to go? Back to the streets? "I've got quite a few books around you should read. You may learn from it," Tony said, pouring himself another drink. "Drink?"

"You underestimate me. Just like everyone else," Loki said, looking up at Tony. He spoke these words with little emotion to be read in his eyes and it made it difficult for Tony to know where he would take this subject. "You think that I am worthless. You put me below yourself while I possess a knowledge you could never even imagine. I'll read your books, but possible not come across a thing I didn't know. I want power and I will get it like I once had," Loki said, looking Tony over, ignoring the drink he'd been offered, like the last time. Tony wondered if he would come back to it at a later point, like last time too. "Have you ever been loved to such a large extent you could hardly fathom it?"

"Hey, I'm Tony Stark," Tony said simply, raising his arms as if there was nothing he could do about it, "of course I know what that feels like."

"Statues - tokens of worship and appreciation, of servantry and devotion - shattered. Statues of _me_! You mention Christianity as if it is yet another thing, but it is the destroyer of true belief. Imagine you are nothing but a work of fiction, that is no longer told or talked about."

Tony wondered what the purpose of telling him these things was, but decided that questioning the God would probably do little in the way of keeping the conversation light. Since when was Tony one to keep things to himself, though? It didn't sit well with him, but as he was tired and quite ready to sleep, he decided he would have to let go of some of his ego.

"You can tell me _all_ about it, _tomorrow_," Tony decided. "Now, come along, so I can be rid of you."

Loki seemed almost disorientated for a moment and Tony noted how half the things he'd talked about weren't things the God would have normally mentioned, as far as Tony could tell, of course. They'd only properly met once before, so he might not actually have as good an understanding of Loki as he wished to have, but it would suffice, as he most definitely wasn't planning on making this encounter last longer in the sake of getting to know each other.

Tony was about to set off into the direction his bedroom was in, quite willing to shove Loki into his own room and shut the door. Maybe he should lock it, just in case, but he somehow figured that wouldn't keep their mutual passive aggression passive. Loki's eyes had clouded somewhat and it was only when Tony clicked his fingers the God's attention snapped awake again.

"So, you really did spent the past days in the gutter," Tony commented.

"What makes you say this? More mockery?" Loki replied, annoyance audible in his voice. Tony shrugged.

"Just, you had a strange look in your eyes that reminded me of the one you see in strays. Or hookers. Wait, how did you get money? Or don't you eat?" Now that he thought about it, every drink he'd offered had been rejected, but that was probably just Loki trying to remain mysterious. Well, he did do a good job of it, although Tony would never admit it out loud.

Loki looked insulted at the word 'hooker' and shook his head, chuckling softly to soon show Stark that definitely wasn't what he had been up to. "You don't think I would sink that low, do you?" he sneered.

"You call the people on Earth 'low'?" Tony asked, brushing a hand through his hair. He could go on rambling about that, but he decided not to and waved it away with his hand. "Now, do you, or don't you eat?"

Loki rolled his eyes at Tony, his hands moving to flatten his own hair as he didn't like the idea much that he looked like a 'stray'. "Of course I eat."

"Then feel free to make yourself a sandwich or something," Tony said, pointing at the kitchen behind him. "But come with me first, I'll show you to the room you can stay in, for now," he said. Having Hitler-like ex-God in his house was hardly what he warmed to, but taking him to a hotel, and paying for it, was even lower on the list as he hardly wanted to take responsibility for Loki having all the visitors kneeling...

He took Loki down the hall to the furthest away door. He opened it, revealing a large, tidy bedroom. "Here, you can stay here. Through that door there you have your own bathroom," he said, laughing softly. "You might want to get yourself showered," he said, indicating that the smell the man brought with him wasn't especially a pleasant one. "If you want, you can borrow some clean clothes. _Borrow_."

Of course Loki didn't take kindly to these words, but he seemed too exhausted to make a big deal out of it. Ah, unfortunately he had offered the God a good night sleep, which automatically meant he would be fully capable of snarkiness tomorrow.

"I don't need your help," Loki sneered and a moment later Tony was stepping towards his own bedroom, glad to leave the God to his misery. He felt little pity for Loki, as whatever punishment he had gotten was clearly not as severe as it should have been. He could still walk, could he not? Though, not being the one for grudges he soon found his mind wondering off elsewhere, quite happy with the silence that had fallen.

Before he went to bed, he secured his bedroom with a simple alarm function, so he would be alerted should the God do an attempt on his life somewhere in the middle of the night. Tony wasn't _that_ gullible, after all.


	2. Chapter 2) Letting a lie slip

**A/N: Well, I'd never expected so many people to favourite/follow this story. Thank you so very much, I hope I won't disappoint you!**

**Chapter two) Letting a lie slip.**

Morning came and what he found in his kitchen was quite the curious God. Tony coughed to notify of his presence, though it didn't seem to bother Loki much.

"I know most consider this Tower a playground, but somehow I never expected you would see it as anything other than a place in need of destruction," Tony said as he watched Loki slam a few kitchen-cupboard doors shut. The man turned to face his intruder, green eyes prying and positively murderous.

Tony made his way into the kitchen, brushing past Loki reasonably casually. He'd never thought he'd be roommate with the previous would-be destroyer of New York City, his enemy and an ex-God, but hey, he was a versatile man, adaptable. "Are you hungry?" he asked, grabbing a few things from the fridge to make himself some breakfast. As Loki didn't reply, he turned to look at him and saw a kind of doubting look on his face. "Okay, get out of the way, I'll make you something, but just today. Don't expect me to do it for the rest of the week, okay?"

"You act as if I'm staying here," Loki replied, stepping away from the kitchen counter where Tony started making something for breakfast. He ignored the fact that it was for him and he wasn't going to show any gratitude towards Stark. Not one 'thank you' would leave his lips.

"Where else are you going? I know you don't like me and I'm sure this Tower brings back a few unwanted memories, but it's better than the streets. Well, I wouldn't know of course. Never been broke." Tony said, turning towards the oven to heat it up.

He observed the God out of the corner of his eye, making sure he wasn't up to anything. Though, Loki still seemed awfully passive. Despite his former investigation of Tony's kitchen, he now merely stood and watched the view outside. Something seemed awfully _off_, but Tony couldn't put his finger on what it was. Save, of course, for the obvious factor that Loki wasn't trying to kill him. Tony continued to make breakfast and it was only when he'd finished it and stepped forward to put the plates down on the table, that the silence was broken.

"Something about having breakfast with your enemy..." Tony spoke the sliver of thought, though did not continue it. He sat down, shoving Loki's plate to the other end of the table. Loki seemed to hesitate for a moment, though then did sit. Ah, that probably meant he was hungry enough to forget about always wanting to disappoint Tony. Tony deliberately watched how the God started to eat, as it amused him greatly. Though, after not too long it got boring and he decided he might as well start on his endless list of things to do. He pulled the closest computer towards him and touched the screen to get it working. He knew that whatever he did would go right past Loki, which was why he unashamedly googled the God's name. He had never gotten round to it and it seemed about time to refresh his memory of Norse mythology. It might help him out with keeping the God tied down, after all.

"So, why are you here again?" Tony asked, while his eyes never left the screen. Who said women were the only ones that could multitask? He wasn't afraid to say he'd gotten quite the knack of it himself over the years. Heck, he'd never have time to sleep otherwise. "I mean, are you here willingly? Or was it more of a 'oh heck, no powers, I should go mingle with mortals'? Or... were you banished, or something?"

"It is -" Loki started to say, and the tone in his voice had been certain enough, but he, for some reason, halted. Tony looked up from the screen, as that did catch his attention.

"It is...?" he pressed on.

"It's none of your business," Loki decided, but it was definitely not what he had wanted to say at first. He seemed far too wary. Not wary of Tony, just wary of _something_.

"No, what were you going to say?" Tony insisted. "That you are banished? Is that it?" Loki seemed awfully uncomfortable. For a God of lies he wasn't doing a brilliant job of it. "So, you are banished."

"No!" Loki snapped back, though a moment later looked shocked and pushed back from the table to stand up. Tony frowned, not quite sure how to classify this behaviour. He watched Loki's back turn to him and a few moments later Loki was rushing to the door.

"Hey!" Tony shouted after him, far too intrigued to let the other go without another prod. "At least finish your breakfast."

Strangely enough, Loki disappeared into his room for the rest of the day. Tony had followed him and had banged on his door a few times, asking what was wrong, but he had received no answer. So he just left him there. He may not have much respect for the evil Loki was, but leaving him in his room, where he obviously wanted to be, worked well for him.

He had the entire day to research Loki in the Norse mythology as much as he wanted to. Strangely enough, reading the entire wikipedia page on him didn't clarify much, at all. He didn't know how much had been thought up by people who believed in them, and how much was really true...

"Dinner is ready, if you want it," Tony asked, standing outside Loki's bedroom. "I can bring you a plate if you want to eat in here, even though that is a bit boring and antisocial as you are staying here without paying anything and I've even made dinner for you..." he trailed off. Loki gave no answer, not even after a few minutes and thus, he turned around again. "I guess that's a no, then," he headed back to the kitchen, starting to eat his own dinner.

By the next morning Loki still hadn't appeared and he wondered what was keeping him from turning up. He didn't understand what had happened yesterday and thus he didn't know how to convince Loki to just open the door and come out. He didn't know what Loki was doing in there and to be frank, he wondered if he was even still in there as he hadn't heard anything from inside the room. However, he couldn't have left as the system would have told him that the door would have opened and closed and there was no way Loki had jumped out of the window, because the system would have told him that too.

It was gone eleven when he finally thought that this was going on too long. Pushing one of the screens aside, he headed towards Loki's room and knocked softly. "Loki, I don't know what you're doing in there, but whatever happened yesterday at breakfast, it doesn't matter, okay?" Tony asked. He hated this reassuring talk and he hated the fact that Loki needed it. Couldn't he just pull himself together? "Just, come out and have some food before you die of hunger in there," he said, knocking on the door again. "Are you even listening? You can't stay in there forever."

But, no reassurance, threat or question got any response out of the God. Tony sighed and for a moment was about to step away once more, but he wasn't going to do that. He didn't want Loki in his house and the longer the God stayed hidden the longer it would take for them to come up with a better solution. "Answer me now or I'm coming in," Tony spoke and waited only a short moment, before he pressed the code to open the door, despite it being locked from the inside. A moment later a noise sounded against the other end of the door, which was the only thing that stopped him from pushing it open.

"Oh no, you haven't blocked my way in, have you?" Tony asked, although was quite glad that he'd gotten a confirmation that Loki wasn't only still in there, but alive too. He wasn't quite sure why the latter was a relief, but was certain it had to do with not liking corpses in the Tower. He pushed against the door, but it was slammed right shut again. Ah, no blockage, other than Loki's aggression. Something about the way he did that seemed desperate. "I read you were 'silver-tongued'," Tony said, "I thought that meant you were good at talking." So, why was he not tricking Tony into staying out? Or whatever it was a 'God of Mischief' did. "At least tell me why you're acting like a ten-year-old."

It sounded like in response Loki had hit his fist against the door, which wasn't the sort of response he would expect the God to give him. Nothing truly made much sense today, Tony thought and Loki did least of all. "So, you're just going to spend the rest of your life sulking in there, or what?" Tony asked, mockingly. Another bang against the door. "You better not be making a mess of my room." Silence. "It feels like I'm talking to a wall. Do you know how that feels?" Something that could have been a groan followed and it was the first actual noise the God had left out. Well, it seemed an improvement, although Tony didn't quite understand what the noise was meant to mean. He really didn't have time for this. Maybe he should ask Pepper to babysit. Somehow he didn't trust the God enough for that to happen, though.

With Loki not answering anything he said, he figured that they weren't going to get anywhere. He let out a sigh and rubbed his temples shortly. "How am I going to get you out of there?" Tony asked, but again Loki only replied with anger. "If this is about yesterday and about you running away from breakfast, don't make a big deal about it. It was just breakfast, breakfast can happen again," he said, but a frustrated groan got returned to him. Strangely enough, the groan made sense. If he was right, Loki was telling him that it wasn't that... Tony pushed against the door again, but the outcome was unsuccessful.

He sat down on the floor against the wall. "Alright, if you don't want me inside, I won't come in, but I'm staying here," he said. "Now, if it's not about the food, what is it about? The topic? You don't want to be asked about how you got down here?" he asked, but again the same kind of noise came, though it was less frustrated. Tony didn't know what to make of it and let out a soft sigh. "You know, it would help if you used words instead of just groaning at me. Not only is it making me a little uncomfortable, but it's making me look like an idiot, not... that anyone's watching, but still, I'm here talking to someone who's only groaning in -" he cut himself off and shook his head. "Whatever. Can't you just talk?"

Loki replied with silence, which was a bit frustrating, more so than the groans he'd been making. However, the silence could be some kind of... clue? He couldn't talk? Why was he being so difficult? Did he just require the attention, or something? Tony let out a sigh and rubbed his temples once again. "Is it about the banishment?" Tony asked, thinking back at what their conversation had been on. He felt like he was talking to a deaf person, a blind person or someone with something wrong, trying to pry information out of one who didn't understand or didn't want to tell. He didn't know which one Loki was at this moment.

Tony heard a soft noise on the other side of the door. So it was about the banishment? "So it is?" the groan was now frustrated, which meant that he'd got it right, but that Loki wasn't happy about it, or at least, that is what he figured... "And what about it? You didn't want me to find out? You wanted me to think you'd come here for fun? What is it?!"

One thing that wasn't difficult to figure out, however, was that if Loki didn't talk for the sake of staying silent, he wouldn't have made a noise at all, which meant... "You really can't talk, can you?" A moment of silence and then a noise that could certainly be picked out to be an affirmative one. "And you are here because you are banished, right?" Tony continued. At least that would straighten it all out. What he did afterwards or _why_Loki couldn't talk, were things he'd get to later. The response was once again affirmative and not long after that he heard a strange scramble, as if someone was picking themselves up from the floor. So, he hadn't been the only one that had decided to sit down. He quickly got up as he realized what it meant that Loki had gotten up too and indeed, the door opened.

His eyes met green ones and for what seemed to be a silence that lasted far too long and was far too... genuine, they just stood there.

"Hey, sucks being banished, but I can't say you didn't deserve it," Tony said then, getting their spirits up where they belonged, again, nice and hostile. Loki looked at him, seemed to consider a series of snide remarks and comebacks, before he settled on a somewhat intimidating smirk.

"A punishment has never managed to retain me. My banishment to Midgard won't last forever, nor is it the worst of the punishments I received."

Tony frowned. "I thought you couldn't talk."

"I couldn't," Loki replied, though it was clear he would rather leave the topic unspoken of.


	3. Chapter 3) Baring the curse

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews and follows! I am forever thankful. 3**

**Chapter Three) Baring the curse.**

Having Loki speaking once again, still not understanding what had stopped him from doing so, he figured out what the up and downsides were of having a God as a roommate. He was picky, selfish and annoying at all times possible. He was nosy, but played uninterested when Tony became enthusiastic talking about it. The upside was the ongoing battle of harsh remarks and mocking of each other. It may seem strange to have that as an upside, but it served as entertainment of a high standard, seeing as intelligence was definitely involved.

So far, no large arguments had broken out and Loki hadn't again hidden in his bedroom voiceless, which was a good thing, and at times quite unfortunate. However, when the computer spoke to him that they had a visitor, he frowned. "Identify," he spoke, turning to Loki who was sitting on the couch, silently reading the book that Tony had offered him. He'd made the offer to let him read it on one of his screens, but the God only looked displeased, so good old paper it was.

Tony checked the time and date and was about to mentally slap himself. "No, don't bother," he said. The cleaner always came at about this time. "Loki, would you mind going to your bedroom? I want to avoid unnecessary questions and the vacuum cleaner will only freak you out anyway, so, off," he said, moving his hand in a shooing manner. Loki gave him one dissatisfied look for being ordered around, but the order itself he couldn't care less about. Uninterestedly, the God made his way to his bedroom, just as the cleaner reached this floor.

"Anne, great to see you," he said, tapping on the counter as she entered the room. Out of the drawer, he took out an envelope with her weekly salary and patted it softly. "I'll be in my office working. And could you skip the bedroom at the end of the hall? I've got a visitor and he isn't all that well... puking and all sorts, not a very nice sight, so... if you wouldn't mind?"

"Of course, Mister Stark," she replied, bowing her head before disappearing into the hall again to go to one of the cupboards, taking out all the things she needed to clean with. And like Tony said, he went off to his office.

Another day passed and Tony was starting to wonder what the true intentions of the God were, as he barely seemed to be doing anything, but reading. He wondered if he should concern himself with asking, as he knew the answers he would get wouldn't help him to understand. Loki wasn't the kind to answer to personal questions openly, that much he had learned.

"It almost seems like you have given up trying to rule the Earth," Tony said, as he got himself a glass of water, after having woken up in a state of bad hangover. Bad hangover, to Tony, was quite unusual, as he was used to pretty severe alcohol intakes on a daily basis. Yet, they happened and it also meant that Loki would have to suffer the consequences of his snide mood.

"I have not," the God spoke in reply.

"Yet, you act more like my pet, than my enemy," Tony replied with a shrug, before he finished the whole glass of water. He put it down on the counter and let the sigh that followed out. Loki stood up from the couch and turned to face Tony, slowly starting to step towards him as he did one of his narrow-eyed threatening glances.

"Do not underestimate me," he spoke, voice low and haunted.

Tony let out some kind of rumble and rubbed his temples, stepping towards Loki. His hand moved to his shoulder to gently nudge him out of the way. "I really don't have time for this, I've got work to do and it's already gone nine o'clock," Stark said. Regardless of how much he drank and to which time, he got up early every single morning.

Loki, however, didn't take the gentle nudge too casually and snatched Tony's wrist out of the air. "You're not taking me serious," Loki said, glaring at the genius.

"I never said that, I just said that I've got stuff to do and don't have time for this," he said, though let out a pained noise as his wrist got twisted further back. "That doesn't mean I don't take you seriously. I believe you, whatever it is that I'm supposed to believe, but you should also believe me when I say I need to sort stuff out, 'cause I really do," he said, now pulling a little harder away from Loki's grip.

"You talk to get away from me, not to speak truth," Loki said and after a harder pull Tony's hand was finally freed again. He didn't, however, walk away, as he knew Loki needed a stern response. He quite liked to put the God in his place, after all. It might just be one of his favourite things to do, of late.

"And you would know all about truth," Tony said, eyebrows raising. "Rather hypocritical, are we?"

"As a matter of fact, I'm not," Loki replied and something about the way he spoke caused Tony to shiver, as he knew Loki was being sincere, while he shouldn't be sincere at all! "You will learn your place and your respect for me, man of iron. And you will regret not biding to my will sooner, for I do not take lightly to traitors."

Tony had a perfectly good and perfectly legitimate reply at the ready, but he wasn't granted the time to use it as a moment later wild sirens were raging. He stepped towards the table and snatched the computer away from it, already blurting at it to stop the havoc. Was it truly necessary to bother him like this on a bad morning?

"What is this?" Loki asked, looking around and soon stepping towards the window to look up at something that Tony hadn't yet seen. "You set me up."

"I did what?" Tony asked, surprised, before he stepped towards the windows to look up too. He was careful not to get too close to the windows, in case Loki might throw him out once again. Although, he probably wouldn't have the strength to do it, Tony didn't feel much for putting that to the test. For the moment his mind was occupied with the many helicopters that suddenly surrounded the tower and as he stepped outside he was greeted, quite warmly, by SHIELD.

"Mister Stark, news reached us of your captivity of the God Loki. You are to hand him over now. Thank you for your watch."

He looked up at the helicopter, seeing one of SHIELD's agents leaning out of the helicopter, a speakerphone in his hand to amplify his voice. "I'm sorry, but I can't do that," Tony said, turning to look back inside to see Loki still standing there. "He's fine here, not doing any damage," he added.

"All we request is cooperation, Mister Stark, there is no room for negotiation," the agent spoke. Tony rolled his eyes a little. It was always going to be like this with SHIELD, wasn't it? Forever obnoxious and delusioned that the world was theirs to do with what they wanted.

"You could have come in through the front door and had a whisky about the matter. There's no need for these circling helicopters," Stark said, annoyedly. All week he'd wanted Loki to just leave, but with 'leave' he meant go back to Asgard, not be imprisoned by SHIELD. "Where's Fury?"

"Fury is not present. Mister Stark, if you cannot hand him over, we will need to use force to take him off you," the agent spoke.

"You're talking like he's mine," Tony replied, wandering up and down. "He's my guest, he can stay here. What do you want him for?"

"It's for your own safety, Mister Stark, and for the safety of Earth," the agent spoke. Tony let out a soft sigh, rubbing his temples. They could have chosen a better day for this. The problem was that they had a point. He could prove to be endangering Earth once more, as Loki never spoke of his intentions and Tony could not guess them. Had SHIELD not the right to take prisoned the one that had nearly destroyed New York and had killed many of SHIELD's agents? But he knew SHIELD and he knew of their experiments, even when he wasn't supposed to know...

"He's not doing any harm. Now if you please," he said, moving his hands in a shooing manner, "will you get your helicopter out of my sight and just enter my building if you want to negotiate, because you're not hav-"

He turned around as he heard a noise inside. Loki was gone from the living room. He rushed inside and sped down the hall towards Loki's room. "Loki, I'm... okay, I'm not on your side, but I'm not on theirs. You-" he heard a few bangs inside. "What are you doing? If you're putting the bed against the door, it's useless, because they've got stuff to blow it all apart," Tony said. "Now ehm... come out and come with me," he said, rubbing his temples once again.

A few moments later Loki again appeared. "You did this," he sneered.

"No, I didn't actually," Tony said, rushing down the hall to his own room. He pulled Loki inside, even though he didn't so much like the idea of having a God in his room (despite the magic that could happen), and stepped towards his cupboard. His room was much bigger than Loki's at the end of the hall, which made him chuckle. He disappeared into the cupboard, pressing a few buttons and stepping into the frame. The machine made electronic sounds and a moment later, he stepped out in his iron suit. "Okay, '...', let's get you somewhere safe," he said, stepping towards Loki. He took hold of him, not even so sure why he was so desperate to keep Loki with him in the Tower, and ran towards the window. "Brace yourself," he said, diving through the glass and flying off as quickly as possible, trying to be unseen by the agents of SHIELD.

He felt Loki press close to him as the glass shattered and he knew that it was probably a big stretch for the God to find any sort of trust in him, even now he had to as they were miles up in the air.

"What are you planning to do?" he heard Loki ask, talking loudly over the noise of wind that sped passed them. The grip the God had on him was firm and it made Tony feel somewhat uncomfortable, though it was hardly his biggest concern at the moment. He didn't want to put Loki through the experiments SHIELD would no doubtfully have in mind, nor did he wish the God to be locked up where he would find no reconcile. And was it not reconcile that had been the purpose of his banishment? He needed to grant the God that chance, even if it only resulted in another mistake from Loki's side, which would then no doubtfully mean the end of him. But he had this one chance and Tony didn't like robbing people of such things. It was strictly against his morale.

"Jarvis, can you get me a reading of the location of these helicopters?" he asked, ignoring Loki's question. He was keeping close to the building, in an attempt to remain fully unseen. He sneaked close to walls, trying to move from one shadow to the next and find a way to create distance between the Stark Tower and them. It would at least buy them some time if they were first to inspect the whole place, before coming to the realization that they weren't there anymore. Tony hated the idea of these people in his house, but there was no way around it.

After a moment a map came up and on it were marked a few of the helicopters. "The Tower isn't able to pick up signals of all of them, sir," Jarvis responded. The image would have to do and he tried to stay away from the red dots as well as he could.

He sneaked around another building, staying quite low to the ground. Loki's grip on him never withered and the God held his head closer to his chest than he would have to. Ah, he was clearly not used to flying. That amused Tony somewhat and he - not all too accidentally - turned a sharp corner, causing Loki's grip to double.

"You better watch out," he sneered, but Tony ignored it, like he ignored all the following sneers and remarks the God threw at him, for not landing them.

A few minutes of hovering around the Tower later, Jarvis suddenly gave a warning. "You have been targeted, Sir, one of the helicopters is coming your way," he said.

"Great," Tony replied, looking at the map to see exactly which one. At that, he dove downwards and flew close to the ground. He did this to get out of the helicopters line of sight, to try and confuse them. It looked like he had a destination, but that wasn't exactly true, he just had a bit of a plan.

He spoke to Jarvis a code that Loki would not know the meaning of and he took better hold of Loki, he pressed a tracker into his clothing. "I'm going to drop you off here, go inside, get a coffee. If you do anything wrong, I'm bringing you to SHIELD. Now, say thank you," he said, flying lower to the ground, avoiding being in the helicopter's sight.

Loki just sneered. "You speak as if I'm wea-" Tony let go of him, giving him about a meter and half to still fall himself. He'd survive.

He continued flying low through the buildings, slowly turning back towards the Stark Tower. He stayed low and landed at his front door, where more agents of SHIELD stood waiting for him. "Stark, we have no time for games," one of the agents said as Tony opened the hatch of his helmet, revealing his face.

"I don't know anything about games but yours," he said. "I thought I had an agreement with SHIELD that they weren't going to barge into my property without my permission," Tony said, hands on his hips to indicate he wasn't exactly happy with the situation.

"This is no normal situation, Mister Stark. A God who had almost destroyed New York-"

"I know who he is, agent..." he looked over his suit which gave no indication whatsoever as to what his name was.

"Agent Felix," the man said, a little annoyed with the delay in the conversation. Trailing off, yet another one of Tony's specialities.

"Agent Felix. Well, as you may know, he will do no harm under my watch," he said, smiling widely.

"Where is he now, if he's under your watch, he should be here," Agent Felix said. Tony just laughed softly, an iron hand rubbing his nose. "You don't take your task seriously, Mister Stark. The God Loki is a very dangerous man, he should not be on the loose. That is why we are needed, Stark. SHIELD can make sure everyone is protected from his harm."

"By locking him up," Tony retorted, raising an eyebrows. "Yes, of course... but what about him? He _does_have a life too, I hope you realise." Was he really doing this? Was he really sticking up for his enemy? Yeah, sometimes even Tony didn't understand Tony.

"Empathetic, Stark?" Agent Felix asked, taking a step towards him. "Now, where is Loki?"

"Loki? Oh, I dropped him off at Starbucks, he said he was a little thirsty," Stark said, which was the truth, kind of. But this Agent, who'd never dealt with him before, just chuckled.

"I've heard bout your jokes, Stark. It's not very funny anymore... Now turn him over to us and you will be rewarded with a thank you for your cooperation," Agen Felix said.

Couldn't they just lay down? Loki wasn't doing anyone any harm... Pff, this was going to take all day while he just wanted to relax and do his work calmly while overcoming his hangover. He'd even promised to show Loki one of his favourite comedy films, just to turn him into a well educated mortal.

Meanwhile in Starbucks, eyes turned to Loki at his peculiar attire as he walked towards the counter. What was it Stark said he had to get? A coffee? "Give me a coffee," he spoke to the woman behind the counter.

"Good afternoon, sir," she said, bowing her head a little, despite the absence of kindness from his side. "How would you like your coffee? With milk and sugar?" she asked, entirely ignoring his rude demand for coffee with smiling friendly. Loki was confused at her question, having no idea what Tony had meant in the first place. Was one nice and the other not? As he didn't give any response, she just smiled. "Don't worry, I'll give you a black coffee with some extra milk and sugar, sir."

Loki glared at the woman, who acted in such a kind manner that he felt belittled. "Excuse me?" he asked her, stepping towards her. His hand moved onto the counter and he leaned over in a threatening manner.

"I'm sorry sir, if I have offended you, it was not my intention," she said, not backing away or letting any fear show. Instead she reached for a strange machine and pressed something. A moment later the machine started to make strange pruttling noises. He stared at it for a moment, before looking back at the woman, figuring he'd first teach her a lesson, before he inspected the function of this machine.

"Do you know what I am? Do you know what I am capable of?" he sneered, eyes narrowed, looking the woman over. Despite his retreat into Stark Tower he had not lost his bitterness towards these puny mortals and he would show them just what he thought of them.

"Yes, sir," she said, lowering her voice to a whisper. "You are the God Loki, sir. I work for Mister Stark. You are safe here, SHIELD or any other corporation cannot get to you here," she whispered. "Now, if you would take place at one of the tables over there, your coffee will be served shortly," she smiled, stepping back towards the coffee machine that still hadn't ceased its strange noises. Loki was surprised to say the least and a moment later an impending anger welled up in him. A cup was placed before him on the counter. "Your coffee. Now, please sit down and wait for mister Stark to come for you."

"I will not be held down by you, nor the man of iron! His control of me is nonexistent, no matter what he tells himself."

The woman sighed and gave him a one over, before she leaned a hand on the counter and rested her head in it. "Look," she said and something about the look she gave him threw him off-guard, as she was not the slightest afraid of him. "You better get your ass over to a table and sit the fuck down, or I'm afraid you'll regret it."

"Do not threaten me like this!" Loki sneered.

"Sit. Down. I've got a freaking taser under this counter and I ain't afraid to use it." He frowned at that, wondering what this 'taser' was she spoke of.

"Your puny devices do not induce fear in me," he said.

"It will knock you out for a good couple of hours, though," she retorted, shrugging. "Your choice."

Tony Stark was glad when he finally found the time to visit Starbucks and recollect the Norse God that he had conveniently dropped off there. He wondered how bored Loki would be, although he was certain the God would be sufficiently entertained by the many strange Starbucks customs. At least it would be interesting to see what Loki made of it, seeing his usual delirious takes on 'mortals' were quite amusing, despite their semi-correctness.

"Wendy," Tony said as he stepped inside. "Sorry it took me so long. Here's a tip," he said and threw some money onto the counter. He turned towards one of the tables, where Loki was getting up from a chair. He was quite surprised to see that the God had avoided being tasered, but was glad, as it would've complicated things if he had to carry the unconscious God back to his Tower. "I hope he behaved himself," Tony said and to his surprise Wendy nodded.

"After I explained him the function of a taser he decided to remain silent. I do think he spent the rest of the afternoon planning your death, though," she said.

"Yeah, how you figure that?" Loki came to a halt in front of Tony, an anger not easily ignored in the green of his eyes. They seemed darker than usual. "Right, I see. Well, come on, let's get back home, 'ey?"

"Stark," Loki spoke, venomously. "I merely waited for your return for one purpose."

"Yes, to kill me?" Tony asked, patting Loki on the back. "Good, good, now, come with me and we can go back to the Tower. Wendy, thank you, really," he said, but Loki did not budge as Tony started to walk.

"You're not taking me seriously," Loki sneered venomously. Tony could picture him taking a big bite out of him, like he were a serpent or some kind of vampire. Hm... let's not.

"Of course I'm taking you seriously, I just don't really fancy experiencing my death in a Starbucks," he turned to Wendy, "no offense." Wendy waved it off, knowing Tony too well to even take it personally.

"You make jokes out of everything, Stark. How can you even take yourself seriously?" Loki asked, stepping dangerously close to Tony. He saw Wendy's hand move under the counter.

"Well, life is sometimes a little difficult and unfortunate, so it's good to go through life with a big smile on your face. Now, learn how to do so too, Loki, now you're practically just a human being like the rest of us, you might as well start acting like one," Tony said. Loki's eyes narrowed at him and it was almost miraculous he didn't start hissing, like a serpent, what could have been expected.

"I would stop threatening Stark if I were you and just go home with him," Wendy spoke. "The taser thing still counts," she said, shrugging her shoulders in an uninterested but apologetic manner. Loki's look once again changed and Stark shrugged his shoulders in the same manner as Wendy had done.

"You got to listen to the lady, Loki," he said. "Actually, talking about ladies and here on Midgard, there are a few things you've got to know. Always let a lady finish talking, always hold the door open for them and _don't_insult them," he said, raising his eyebrows.

"I will listen to no one," Loki replied, eyes piercing into Tony's. "And you cease this belittling behaviour, for you treat me like an unworthy enemy and unworthy I am not."

"He certainly has his ways with words," Wendy said from behind the counter, leaning lazily on it like she'd done before. Tony let out a soft laugh, though then in all seriousness turned to face Loki once more.

"You do like to assume I'm belittling you, don't you?" Tony asked. "Almost makes it sound like you actually want it, but do not want me to think you want it and therefore you're provoking it, knowing that I like to do what you don't want me to, which is why you're saying the opposite of what you actually want!"

"That is not what I am doing," Loki said with that strange same sincereness he'd used more over over the past few days. "And I can prove this to you, but I will not, for you do not matter in my grand design."

"Has this anything to do with how you couldn't talk?" Tony asked, eyes observing the God's green ones for a hint of the answer, but it stayed gone. The God of Lies could mask much, even this. "Come on, let's just go home and we can continue our fretting where it doesn't actually matter if I knock you out. I really don't want to be carrying you home to the Tower, you see."

"Stop belittling me," the God spoke, voice low, but a moment later he stepped towards the door, clearly ready to comply. Good.

The thought of knocking Loki out the moment they set foot in the Tower went through Tony's mind, but on second thought, he might as well give Loki a chance to calmly return to his book and stay silent for the rest of the day, or week.

"Why are you so angry with me, anyway?" Tony asked.

"You belittle me constantly and act like I am worthless. I am a _God_," Loki spoke, his eyes narrowed at Tony. The both of them stepped into the elevator, but only after the doors shut, Tony realised how awkward it truly made the situation. Wisely, he carried on the conversation, even though this awkward silence could stop it entirely, but then the tension would remain for the rest of the night.

"You are a God that was once worshipped who is searching for that same sensation every day until now. But you have to realise one thing: people stopped believing in Gods because they don't need anyone to lead them. They don't need a higher power to give them their right and wrongs because the people of today collect knowledge and base their rights and wrongs on that for themselves," he said. "Religion is dying out. Most people find it a ridicule to believe in the Christian God and you come to Earth claiming that you are Loki, the Norse God from Asgard, wanting people to kneel for you, to worship you and to kiss the ground you walked on," Tony spoke, shaking his head. "People don't even remember you anymore."

"The people don't _want_a leader! They don't want people to think for them anymore. They want to think for themselves and find their own happiness in life," he said, his voice lower. "Maybe in another world far from here people desire it, but not here, Loki, God of Mischief and Lies, not here."

The elevator opened and he stepped out, leaving Loki behind with his words. Though the God soon followed suit, having regained his power for words. "They do not want it, but they _long_for it," Loki spoke, voice threatening. "The human race wishes to be controlled, so they aren't forever quelled with freedom. Tell me, honestly, that you have never felt out of control. And is it not better to accept control is but a lie from the start? Is it not better to feel succumbed by one willing to rule, than succumbed to shattered morale?"

"I'd rather 'succumb' to _anything_, than succumb to _you_," Tony said, a rare anger in his voice. Loki's lips parted to say something, but he closed his mouth again. It was truly intriguing to know that Tony could have that effect over the silver-tongued God. It came in helpfull though.

"You will learn your place," Loki said.

"Yeah, we'll see about that," Tony said, clearly not buying it. A madness could be seen in the green depths of Loki's eyes and should the God possess his powers Tony would surely be creating a distance between them, but he didn't feel threatened, which probably only angered Loki further. "You condemn yourself to the same inevitable failure you say you want to rid the human race of by removing their freedom. Perhaps that is what you need too. I should've let SHIELD take you."

"I am above your puny mortal race!" Loki spat in response.

"No, actually you're not and I think I just made a really good point." But all his words seemed to serve only one purpose; to fuel Loki's rage further.

"Then why didn't you let them take me? If you wish to be rid of me and it would be rightful? You would've even be rewarded!" the God spoke.

"Whatever the reason of your banishment, I'm certain it doesn't involve getting locked up by SHIELD. Your brother would've personally delivered you if that would've been the reason for your return to Earth."

"He's not my brother!" Loki sneered and before Tony could've stepped back, Loki's hand had clenched around his shoulder, nails digging into his skin through the thin shirt he wore. "You know nought of what you speak!"

"Okay, okay, fine, just let go of me and we can resume to not talking, if that sits better with you," Tony said.

"Cease your senseless speech!" Loki said, shoving him backwards with quite some force, but Tony regained his balance before he fell down, which seemed to dissatisfy Loki further. The God stepped towards him, eyes crazed, yet determined. "You believe your understanding of me is grand, that you flawlessly speak of truths. But how can you? You do nought know power like I do. You know nought pain like I do."

"Loki, seriously, cut the crap," Tony replied, raising his hands in a somewhat defensive manner, although for the only purpose of silencing the other's rage. The God grabbed hold of his wrist and pulled him closer and Tony was forced to look up into those green eyes. "You want my respect? Earn it."

It was only then that Tony's eyes looked down to see Loki reveal a dagger. Well, of course he wouldn't be unarmed. He'd never assumed the God to be. He jumped backwards, though the way Loki's hand was around his wrist kept him from moving away entirely.

"I will spare you under one condition," the God spoke and his very words seemed to be frozen. Tony involuntarily shivered once more. He hated it when Loki made him do that.

"And what condition is this?" Tony asked, looking at the God with an eyebrow raised. He'd been in worse situations. Did Loki truly think a dagger threatened him?

"Kneel."

"Ah," Tony said, before letting out a series of chuckles and laughs. "Good one. Yeah, I don't really... kneel," he said and a moment later forced all his power to twist Loki's hand and pull free from him. He immediately raised his fist to strike the God, but Loki was out of the way before his stroke could fall, dagger still in hand. "Are we seriously going to do this?" Tony asked, truly feeling little for having to knock the God out, as it would probably mean they were back where they started; truly hostile. They'd built up this faked calm!

"I have given you the conditions," Loki replied, which caused Tony to roll his eyes.

"You have no powers, no magic and even if you stood a chance fighting me man to man, you are not used to this 'mortal form' and it will surely show," Tony replied, quite sure of himself. But could he honestly say that Loki stood no chance at getting anywhere? Well, he'd just have to ensure he didn't. "So, put the dagger away and _talk_," Tony decided. Loki's eyes narrowed for a moment, though he made no further attempt to stab Tony, which was an improvement.

"You always wish to talk, but your words never interest me," Loki said.

"Keep telling yourself that," Tony replied, one eyebrow raising. "I've silenced you often enough."

"You have not!" Loki said, though the next moment the dagger was falling from his hand and a look of pained shock crossed his eyes. He turned away and was rushing for the door a second later, much like he had done during that breakfast all those days back. This time Tony wasn't as ready to let him go and he rushed forward, taking hold of Loki's upper arm and pulling him backwards in a violent tug. He moved in front of the God, holding him firmly and pushing him back against the wall.

"What's this about?" he asked, though before he had finished speaking his eyes already focused on Loki's lips. A dark green thread had pierced through many, bleeding, holes around his thin lips and forced his mouth shut in a gruesome manner. Loki struggled against his grip, trying to hide his face, but he was quite literally stuck between the wall and the stronger man before him. And his eyes hid not the silent cry that would have left his lips, should he be granted the opportunity.

Tony was shocked, though he did not allow Loki the leave he wished for. He would not let the God alone now he knew this dark secret. How could he, when green eyes looked pained beyond any he'd ever seen.

"I see," Tony said, watching the blood trail down the God's chin. For a moment he thought about the ivory taste Loki was no doubtfully enduring and it made him sick to think that he could not wash it away. "So they are as dramatic as wikipedia states," he said, with a somewhat impressed look on his face. Loki's eyes met his then and there was a humiliation in them that went so deep that Tony stepped back. No, no, he couldn't do this. He looked away, a somewhat pained expression on his own face. He could not watch how Loki's lips tugged down in the corners, causing only more blood. This was torture and he could read it so clearly in the God's eyes that he was almost ready to slap Loki for it. "You're supposed to _hide_these things from me," he said, frustratedly. "Like you always do!"

He somehow knew a response lay on Loki's lips, but he could not speak it. And not only was this frustrating for the God, but for Tony as well. What was he to do now? Put Loki in a room and forget about them until the thread disappeared?

"It went away the last time. Why?" Tony asked, looking up at Loki despite what he could read in those eyes. He needed to get himself over this. How was Loki supposed to answer when he couldn't speak? "Can't I cut the thread loose?" he asked and Loki began to shake his head, quite frantically so. One of Loki's hands moved up to his lips, touching the green thread, which make him plead and one of the holes bleed even more. "Don't, you'll only make it worse," Tony said. This magic was gruesome and he wondered how anyone could ever inflict such a horrible punishment on another, but after all Loki had done, didn't he deserve exactly this?

"Come with me," he then said, taking hold of Loki's arm and leading him to the bathroom. The thought of the broken window ran through him and he wondered how much scolding Pepper was going to give him when she found out about it, but... well, she knew how he was by now. He took Loki into his own bedroom and through to his bathroom, sitting him down on the edge of the bath. He grabbed one of the softer towels and softly started to dab at the God's lips, trying to soak up the blood. With a wet towel, he then continued to dab, trying to relieve the pain a little.

"Calm down, okay, Loki?" Tony said. He was never the 'reassurer', so all this behaviour felt alien to him, but, he knew he had to help Loki out here. "You've got to try and show me what to do to... make the... stuff go away," he said, motioning with his free hand to Loki's lips. What happened last time? It was about the banishment, but what exactly? And what had just caused Loki to get these stitches again? Whatever made them come, Loki wasn't being so smart avoiding it...

What was the last thing that happened before the thread appeared? Loki had shouted a contradiction to Tony's statement. "A false contradiction..." Tony then said out loud, before he looked at Loki again. He was always the kind to quickly figure out the makings, evidently it didn't matter whether these makings were of an engineered source or a magic trick. Loki was giving him a strange look, an almost hopeful one. "You can't lie," Tony said, which would definitely explain why Loki had such a difficult time communicating lately. The God didn't nod a confirmation, but the absence of a 'no' meant Tony was right. "Quite the humorous folk, aren't they?"

Loki looked away, fingertips moving to touch the thread once again, possibly even softly pulling it, but it didn't give way and it only resulted in the opening of mending wounds. "You shouldn't touch it," Tony said, feeling icky just looking at those dark red holes piercing the God's skin. So cruel... Right, he needed to stop feeling sorry for Loki right now, for the God truly deserved this. Of course he did! He'd nearly destroyed everything! Still...

"So, you lied, then this happens... then what?" he asked, more to himself, than Loki who'd not be able to answer him anyway. "Do you want to write it down, or something?" he asked. Loki's eyes narrowed for a moment and he seemed vicious, but then he gave in and nodded. "Alright, give me a moment," he said and rushed to get a piece of paper and a pen. He realized he never actually used paper... In the end he decided anything would do and grabbed the book that Loki had been reading and found a ball pen he'd once been given as a gift. It was one of those expensive things that he'd never even taken out of the box. Certainly it would satisfy Loki.

When he stepped back into the bathroom he was surprised to see that Loki hadn't gone anywhere. Not that he would've gone outside with his mouth stitched shut like this, but at the very least he ought to be hiding his humiliation from Tony. He did not.

As Tony handed him the book the God frowned and a pained expression crossed his eyes as his lips had tugged at the thread. He'd wanted to smile, laugh possibly at Tony's solution. Tony ignored it all, as he knew that was what Loki would want him to do. The God took the pen and opened the last page of the book, which was an empty one. He motioned for Tony to 'back off' and he complied, figuring it would be difficult enough to write down, as it was.

For the longest of moments Tony just sat there, watching nothing in particular and waiting for Loki to finish, but the God never even started to write and a moment later he stood up, let the pen and book fall from his hands and wanted to walk away.

"No, wait..." Tony said, quite softly. Green eyes turned to meet his and a storm of emotional conflict could be seen in them. "I'm sure we can find a way." Loki's eyes widened, before he turned to look at the ground. Tony's offered help had a greater effect on him that he seemingly wished it had. Loki extended his hand and pointed at Tony then. Ah, so he was going to sign language his way out of this one? That should be interesting. "I...?" Tony started. Loki raised his finger to his lips, but not to touch the thread. The only thing Tony was reminded of was a 'shh', which might just be exactly what the God meant, but it wasn't exactly a word. Then the God pointed to himself. Tony shushed him? "Well, yeah, quite literally," Tony said, but to his amazement the thread was thinning and slowly snaking out of the holes, leaving bruised lips, that quickly healed to leave no sign.

For a moment they looked at each other, the next Loki turned around again, but before he rushed out of the door he bent down to take his book - and the pen.


	4. Chapter 4) No other way

**A/N: Thank you all for still reading the story! It is much appreciated.**

**Chapter Four) No other way.**

Of course SHIELD would come knocking back on his door, but for the moment he'd hoped to have a little piece of mind. At the very least he expected SHIELD to show some manners and actually 'knock' his door, rather than burst in. The latter, however, seemed to have been their strategy. Along with them showing up when Tony was out. And Loki, unfortunately, was not.

"Loki!" Tony shouted for the fifth time, though he got no reply, nor had he expected one.

"Mister Stark, sir," Jarvis begun as he came into the living room, looking around for Loki.

"Give me a minute, Loki!" he shouted. "If he's gone, I'm going to do really nasty things to that son of a God-bitch and make him lie- okay that's a bit too far- _Loki!_" he shouted, looking around.

He walked down to Loki's room, where the door was shut. He typed in the code with a quick 'I'm coming in,' and gave the door a push. "Loki, come on, what's going on?" he asked, not seeing him inside of his room. "Did you lie again?"

He then suddenly heard noises noises a floor above and frowned. "No, no, no, where has he gone," he said, running back to the elevator and going up a floor. Once he got out, he heard a door slam shut. "Loki, I know you're in there," Tony said, stepping towards that door. "Loki?" he said. "Loki, what are you doing?" he asked, hearing more stumbling and a little clutter. He pressed in the combination to open the door. If he was holding a glass, he would've dropped it.

Three agents in black suits were paling and white on the floor, dead, Loki dragging them towards an open window. "Loki what _are_you doing? Loki, stop it," he spoke, but Loki did not say a word. He stepped towards him, grabbing hold of the God's jaw, turning his eyes towards his own brown ones. Loki's eyes connected to Tony's shortly, before pulling his face back and away from the scientist, dragging the three closer to the window.

"What have you done?" he asked, grabbing hold of Loki's wrist, suddenly twisting it to make him let go of these men.

"You lied to me! This place is not safe!" Loki shouted at Tony, who raised his eyebrows in response.

"Since when do you need keeping safe? I thought you could look after yourself now, you're a big boy," Tony said, feeling incredibly angry about what Loki had done.

"That is what I have done! I-" he stopped speaking, not wanting to be rid of his speech again. "They tried to take me with them," Loki sneered. "Do you expect me to spare such souls? Do you truly expect me to spare the men that want to keep me as a captive for their own sick research?" he asked. Tony shrugged a little. He couldn't disagree with Loki that he'd had a right to protect himself, but to kill three agents. Why had SHIELD only sent three anyway? Clearly they had believed Tony when he'd said the God had been rid of his power. Here was to hoping they wouldn't sent a whole squad when they found out their three agents were dead, which would no doubtfully lead to the conclusion that Loki still had his magic. Great.

"You could have been a little nicer. You could have just locked them up somewhere in stead of killing them and then throwing them out of the window," Tony said, his voice getting more persistent at every word. "They are humans! Not only that, they are part of SHIELD, if they know these three agents are dead and that you did it, while under my supervision, I've got a really big problem."

"I'm not under your supervision, Stark. Stop acting like you need to look after me," he sneered, stepping closer to Tony, his eyes narrowing. The God had a point. Even Tony felt that Tony should stop acting like Loki was under his supervision, but it certainly did feel like he was.

"This is just..." Tony looked at the bodies. They were far from 'clean', which was probably the worst of it. Their paled faces were already a token that they had lost severe amounts of blood _before_ they actually died. "What did you _do_?"

"I do not like this, either, but without my magic I could not be neat." To Tony's surprise the thread did not appear to seal the God's lips.

"But honestly, it was also just a good excuse for gruesome murder, wasn't it?" Tony said, although it was hardly a topic he wished to talk about. Especially with the bodies lying around. _In his Tower_.

"I can't deny it stirred me," Loki replied, quite flatly.

"Honestly I don't know what to do with you," Tony replied, frustrated. He could not help Loki bury these bodies and pretend that nothing had happened! If SHIELD would find out about his participation in this he would be as dead as the God would be. Not a good future.

"Pretend you didn't see anything," Loki said.

"But I did see something," Tony replied, looking at Loki as if he was stupid for thinking he could so easily deceive SHIELD. "You know what," he said, looking back at the door and stepping towards it. "Come with me." With his back turned to the God it was relatively easy to speak the words and set off, knowing what destination he had in mind, but knowing Loki could not. A moment of hesitation followed, before the God stepped after him.

"What is it now, Stark?" he asked, annoyed. "What is so important that it cannot wait?"

"A possible solution," was all he replied. Loki caught up with him and he knew the God was trying to look into his eyes, for a sign of what this solution was. "'ey, can I be mysterious too for a moment?" he asked, snappily. Why was Loki even following him? Why did the God trust him?

As he stepped into his bedroom, he wondered if Loki's void eyes would show hopefulness should he dare show such emotions. As he put on the suit, ignoring Loki's impatient questioning, he wondered how many more days he would have to spent with the God in his home before he would not feel the need to hide his emotions anymore. And as he turned to face the God, who was still standing - seemingly annoyed - he knew he was going to destroy the only peace Loki's heart had got to know on Midgard.

"Now, what is this great plan of yours?" Loki asked, boredom shimmering through his voice, which probably meant he didn't believe Tony's plan to be any good at all. Well, he was right.

"Come," he spoke and stepped back to the living room. Again Loki followed, but it caused Tony to halter in his steps. "Will you stop doing that?" he shouted as he turned to the God, who looked clearly taken aback. "Stop doing as I say!"

"What?" Loki's eyes narrowed at that. "I thought you were going to show me your great plan."

"I was- I mean- I am," Tony said. He sighed audibly, feeling so much anger, though the source stayed unknown. That was to say; he didn't dare go there himself, afraid to find out what it actually was.

"Well, show me, oh mighty genius," Loki hissed. And that was it. That was all the motivation he needed. He stepped forward, firmly took hold of Loki's wrist and yanked him along.

"Jarvis," he spoke, ignoring Loki's struggles and the many sneers and swearwords, half of which were in languages that Tony did not speak. "Get someone from SHIELD- get that Felix guy, on the phone."

"What is this newfound game, you idiot?" Loki growled and as Tony waited for the guy to pick up, he quickly pulled Loki closer so he would not escape.

"Just be silent," he said.

"What _for_?" Loki asked, struggling only more.

"Stay _still_! Or I'll-"

"This is agent Felix, how may I be of assistance, mister Stark?"

Loki was struggling, but the iron grip Tony held on the God's throat was enough to stop him from being heard over the line. Well, he better make this quick.

"You, without notifying me, sent three agents to my house. Do you have complaint forms or something, because I would be able to fill a few of those out, if you don't mind."

"Get to the point," the agent spoke, which was probably exactly what Loki was thinking at this point, who was trying to pry Tony's fingers lose.

"It seems you have underestimated your target, for I found him trying to get rid of the evidence of said agents, when I conveniently came home, after a long day of hard work, which I might add, you profit of."

"You- Where is he now?"

"Don't worry, he's here. And he's yours." At that Loki's struggles doubled, but to no avail. "Now, you better hurry and make sure you can carry the bodies back too. I don't want them."

"Certainly, mister Stark. Thank you for your cooperation and we will be with you shortly."

"Yeah, 'kay. Bye."

He let go of Loki's throat the moment the line went dead and the God breathed in sharply, immediately starting to cough afterwards. For a moment he stood quite shaky on his legs, before he turned around, eyes icily staring. He was still panting and Tony could see bruises were forming where he'd been held.

"You better stay here and don't do anything stupid," Tony warned and it was true; he wished the God wouldn't do anything stupid, as he truly didn't want to have to respond to it, but he'd have to. "Loki, I'm serious."

"What are you doing?!" the God shouted then, madness shimmering once more in those green eyes. He blinked, tried looking away, but nothing could stop the emotions from showing and it pained Tony only more. "I will not go along with them!"

"You'll have to," Tony replied matter-of-factly.

"You can't do this! I am here, under your _trust_! I have done naught to wrong you! They have no right to take me, yet you pretend to be the hero to hand me over! What is it you wanted of me, that had you allow my presence here?! Is this the ultimate compensation you force upon me? Had my former defeat not risen enough _worship_of you?!"

"No, Loki, this is simply the only way," he replied, quite harshly so, but it was also the truth. And because it was the truth he could not say it without that line of hatred around his tone of voice.

"But it is not! Tell me, honestly, you know not every secret SHIELD keeps."

"Well, I sort of know a lot, yeah," he replied, willing to confirm that.

"Then I am certain you can outsmart them!" If it hadn't been for their current situation, Tony would've made a remark about this strange new habit Loki had developed, in which he would honestly state Tony's 'genius' and his abilities to 'outsmart'.

"Shut up, I do not owe you _anything_," Tony said then, doing a step in Loki's direction, who did not step back.

"Oh, but you do now," Loki replied, that wickedness in his eyes again that Tony feared above all else, despite how he wouldn't say so out loud. It was the side of Loki that was truly mad, irrevocably insensible and manipulative. It was a selfish side that fought for no-one but himself. It was tortured into uncontrollable craze.

"I thought I told you to shut up," Tony snapped.

"You will not silence me again, man of Iron, for do not think for one moment I will be quelled below your betrayal. It will empower me, like the loss of my family has, the murder of my true heritage has and the banishment from my homelands has."

"Suddenly you're talking," Tony said, figuring that to tell the God ones more to 'shut up' would only provoke the opposite. A moment later Loki was trying an escape, which was bound to fail, as Tony was much faster and stronger than the God was.

"Let me! Grand me this much!" the God said and there was a hint of a plea in his voice that Tony could almost not ignore.

"I can't, I wish I could, but I can't," he replied, violently pulling Loki back from his way towards the door and throwing him into the counter with quite some force. A groan escaped Loki's lips, but he was soon on his feet again.

"Tell me why not! Why can't you let me go?!" Loki shouted, stepping towards him angrily. Oh, that wickedness was nearly too much to bear. "Would you be ashamed to explain how a powerless God escaped your iron grip? Is that it?! Your arrogance!"

"You're too late," Tony replied and he stepped forward to take hold of Loki's wrists and force them behind him. He moved closer to the God, his voice turning to a whisper as he moved closer to his ear: "tell me, you want to be taken conscious or not?" But as he heard Loki's faltering breath and knew that all his self-control had failed him, Tony knew there was only one fair way of doing this. Loki would not want to be seen like this and thus Tony raised his wrist, hitting him over the head, causing his body to go weak in Tony's arms, who made sure he did not fall to the ground, to spare him. His head would be hurting enough when he woke.


	5. Chapter 5) Complicating things further

**Chapter five) Complicating things further**

Loki awoke slowly to the dark room. No matter the times he blinked, the room did not brighten. It made him wonder whether he was opening his eyes at all, as the darkness surely was vast. It did not frighten him, but the fact that whenever he tried to move his limbs he found he couldn't, did. So this was how the world would contain their rightful leader?

Part of him wished this to be a dream, a nightmare, but it was not so. Stark had let SHIELD take him, because "there was no other way". Did Stark really believe it himself? What bothered him most at the current moment was that him not being able to see anything didn't mean no one would be able to see him...

He tried to pull his hands free, but he was well bound down. The same went for his ankles and a firm strap around his waist. He didn't know whether to feel flattered or not, that they thought he was dangerous enough to strap to a bed. A very uncomfortable bed.

How long was he to be kept here? Until they were sure to have eradicated all the danger? In that case he would never see a day outside of SHIELD anymore. He needed to plan an escape and he needed to do so quickly, for he felt little for wasting his time in this institution.

He would rule everyone and the first thing he would do was slaughter everyone that had opposed him now. He would personally find out who had strapped him to this bed and torture them for everyone to see, to teach the lesson that he was almighty and unforgiving of such crimes.

He was unsure how long he had been lying here and wondered how much longer it would take for anyone to show any interest in him. It certainly was boring to be here. More so, he continuously felt tormented by thoughts and memories, now there was nothing to direct his attention elsewhere.

Fiercely he continued to struggle against the bounds. He tried to wiggle free his hand, twisting and turning it. But the bound was so tight around his wrist that it only resulted in his fingers tingling from the loss of blood. After a moment he let out a frustrated sigh and forced his muscles to relax, as it would only pain him later.

The door opened, suddenly, and Loki was blinded by the light that came from outside. He shut his eyes firmly, head throbbing from the sudden flash. On the back of his eyes he pictured the image that he had managed to catch right before his eyes had pressed shut. A dark figure against the bright background. A tall, strong man...

"To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit, _Thor_?" Loki sneered, opening his eyes once more now the door had shut. A moment later lights flickered on in the room and although they were still blinding, Loki kept his eyes open.

"Loki, my brother-"

"Please spare me your sentiment," Loki interrupted him, snappily. Was Thor here to torment him further, or save him perhaps? Or was it merely an occasional visit? Did Thor perhaps like to see him in this place, captured by the very people he tried to gain control over? "Was this your grand plan? For me to roam free, only to be taken captive by this pathetic corporation?!"

"I never meant for this to happen, Loki," Thor spoke. Loki tried to flinch out of the way, but as he was bound to the bed it was hardly like he could go anywhere. Thor's hand connected to his shoulder and squeezed softly.

"Untie me," Loki said. "Or be gone."

"Fair enough," Thor replied, much to Loki's surprise and he felt how the God of Thunder started to pull on the ties. Not too long after that he could pull his hand free from the loop. Immediately he started on the other hand, while Thor started at his ankles.

"I will not be held captive by these puny mortals," Loki growled.

"That is not my decision to make," Thor replied, to Loki's disdain. First Tony and now Thor. Did _anyone_dare to stand up for anything?! "I have not banished you with no means of return, brother, but it is only when you meet these terms that your fate, once more, falls to me." Loki had no clue what 'these terms' were, but was certain they weren't terms he would agree to anyway.

"It seems I'm forced yet again to do this on my own," Loki replied, voice cold. His other hand was now also freed and he started on the bound around his waist. Thor had almost finished untying his second ankle.

"I am there for you," Thor spoke, looking down at his brother now he was free from the bounds. "But I cannot tell you what needs to be done for you to redeem your magic," Thor spoke, shaking his head a little. "I am sorry, but this is your fate and you will have to take it into your own hands," Thor spoke. "Do not twist my words, however, brother. As you do not stand alone as one man in a world," Thor spoke, "I support you."

"I don't need your support, nor your protection," Loki spat, pushing himself up from the bed. He looked down at himself and saw that he was not wearing the same clothing as he had done before. "How dare they," he sneered softly.

"Loki, you must cease this behaviour," Thor spoke. "You cannot make people bow down to you as in many eyes you do wrong, you commit crimes," Thor spoke, "they are the people that are punished, not praised and definitely not worshipped. Like this, you cannot rule, if that truly is what you desire - which I will not let you do, _would _you be capable, as you will only inflict damage on the realm that I protect. You need your magic, Loki, as you need to return to Asgard."

"Stop telling me what I do or don't need to do!" Loki shouted. "Stop ordering me around, _King_of Asgard! I am not your puppet and I never will be. Deal with it, that time has been and gone and I will remain the brother you never wanted, the brother that you always saw as second choice," Loki spoke with a tone that showed his emotion so clearly, his anger and pain, his fierce longing to be someone... someone wanted and worshipped.

"You are not second choice now! Don't you see how much effort I'm putting into your banishment? How much it takes to not just take you back home?"

"Asgard is not my home! And you are not my brother, Thor! I was always a substitute, someone to come to when your proper friends weren't there!" Loki shouted, his voice loud and filled with pure anger. "Nobody has _ever _wanted me, Thor! _Nobody!_"

"I want you now, now stop this nons-"

"But not for who _I am_!" Loki's voice was an urgent scream, his jaw trembling. His head hurt, he was tired and worn down. He didn't feel safe, nor trusted, nor loved, nor did he feel alone, as he had no privacy to be so... but at the same time he was the most alone person in the world. "Look at me!" he suddenly shouted and obeyed, looking at him. He could see in the King's eyes that this touched him emotionally. "You want me to be that brother that took you with me when we pulled pranks instead of me pulling pranks on you. You want me to be that boy who is fine with you having your own life, but is always there when you need him. You want me to be the Son of Odin, like you always believed me to be. I am not even like you, Thor. My entire life is a lie, an enormous lie and that's why you don't truly care. Because you want that lie, _not _me."

Loki had stepped closer and closer to Thor as he spoke. Threateningly his voice grew softer and softer as he came closer, his eyes growing fiercer and filled with more sadness and madness. These were not eyes Thor could continue to look at and thus he looked away, proving that, indeed, he believed in the lie.

The both of them fell silent for a while and as Loki turned up to look at his brother, Thor placed a hand on his shoulder, but got pushed back instantly. "If you truly don't want me, then leave and indeed leave my fate in my own hands instead of steering it in the direction you want it to go," Loki spoke, looking up at his brother, only cold emptiness visible in his green orbs. Thor let out a sigh, shook his head, then took a step back.

"I love you, brother," Thor spoke. "I love you even now."

"Because you have hope in me becoming the boy I once was. The naive and ignorant boy," Loki replied. "No longer do I suffer from such traits. I am destined to rule and I will break out of here, no matter how much it will take and you know that," Loki said, stepping towards his brother, looking up into his blue, upset eyes with his own mad ones. "Now leave me to my fate."

"I wish you luck, my brother. I will be forever waiting your return," Thor spoke, turning his back on Loki, taking a step towards the door.

"As I will await your downfall," Loki replied, a wicked sneer on his face. He stepped to stand before Thor, the door now right behind him. Thor gritted his teeth, his eyes catching Loki's, who started to laugh menacingly. "Run home, little princess."

Thor's fist raised and collided with the door behind Loki, which crumbled under the God's touch, breaking a hole into the hard wood of the door. Loki grinned, shoved his hand through the door and opened it from the outside. Nobody could harm Loki while Thor was watching and thus, as the door opened, he started to run, Thor right behind him.

He was looking around, while never ceasing his speed. He knew it would take only a few seconds for Thor to catch up with him, but he wasn't actually trying. Did he not want Loki to escape? And as he fell under Thor's protection at this given moment, he was granted the opportunity of an escape, as long as it looked like Thor tried to catch him.

He rushed into one of the hallways, though knew he would have to do better than this as alarms were ringing and people were starting to get aware of the happening, which meant that more and more would try to come after him. Or worse - pop out of hallways before him. Quickly he changed course, rushed into one of the rooms and threw the door shut behind as it was an automatic gesture that would, at least, slow Thor somewhat. Ah, he'd picked a good room to walk in to. Filled with electronics and machinery he didn't understand. Surely there was _something_he could use?

If only he'd asked Tony what to look out for in a situation like this. The door was hardly left intact as Thor slammed it open.

"Brother! Don't do this! You'll only complicate things further for yourself!"

"As always, your fate in me is warming," Loki sneered coldly. He reached one of the tables and grabbed something that looked like a gun, of some sort. He pointed it towards Thor, knowing it would hardly harm him at all. Probably. He could always pretend he knew about these things, could he not? Suddenly his attention was turned away from Thor entirely, as he took hold of the weapon in his both hands, looking down at it in amazement and fear. It was so small... "How is this possible?" he mused, confusedly. "We took it, did we not? We took everything..."

"What?" Thor asked and he stepped towards Loki, who immediately turned his back to his brother and studied the weapon further. He was going to be caught, yes, but he would not be caught empty handed. He pried at the puny weapon, unsure what it's purpose was and what it was doing here. Yet, out of all the weapons here he'd picked up this small one and it had not been coincidence. He had been led to it, by something he had come to loathe, but loved still.

He took out a thin glass tube that looked like some of the things he'd seen in the Tower. The liquid within the tube flickered a brilliant blue as he held it up, but before Thor could grab it from him, he threw the rest of the weapon towards him, momentarily distracting him as he automatically caught it. Loki tried to open the tube. Yes, this was it. This was exactly the piece of the puzzle he'd been missing and right when an entire squad of agents entered the room, holding him at gun point, he drank the tube's entire content.


	6. Chapter 6) Fear and freedom of falling

**A/N: Thank you all for reading and reviewing this story! It is very much appreciated! Hopefully you will enjoy this next chapter too. Merry Christmas (Eve)!**

**Chapter six) Fear and freedom of falling.**

It had all happened on instinct, it had been a trust of his senses, that this indeed was right. Thor stood before him, hands having moved forward to snatch the tube away, but it was too late. He could already feel the liquid burn him.

"What's happening to him?" one of the agents spoke up, while they closed in on him, weapons still aimed. Loki's sight spun and soon his eyes were closing. Even if he had had the possibility to reply to the question, he wouldn't have been able to, for he had no idea what was happening to him.

He blinked a few times and Thor saw how his eyes were turning bluer and bluer by the moment. The visible veins beneath his skin flashed the same blue as his eyes, making Loki's muscles spasm. He stumbled backwards, trying to grab anything to keep himself up, but he slid to the ground, a groan leaving him, but not due to the collision with the floor. It was the blue liquid burning him. "He's turning white..." one of the agents spoke and Thor moved to his side.

"Loki, can you hear me? What's happening?" he asked, looking at how his body arched in pain, his eyes shut, his body spasming like he was suffering from an epileptic shock. He took hold of Loki's hand and turned his wrist upwards, pushing his sleeve back. The liquid was running through his blood, turning it blue or... "The liquid is connected to the Tesseract. Loki is being consumed by the Tesseract," Thor spoke. He grabbed hold of Loki's face, trying to shake him awake. "Loki, wake up!" he spoke. One consumed by the Tesseract was another word for death. Loki would be wiped out and his body would be powered by the Tesseract only, if that was what was happening. Loki stood no chance from winning from the liquid, as he had no magic himself to fight it off, no Godly resistance.

Loki's body became paler and paler. "It's replacing his blood," Thor spoke, worry in his voice. "There is no sorcery or magic that can counteract or undo this..." he said, shaking Loki, but his body had gone white entirely. He was no more, his blood was gone, but the blue liquid, empowered by the Tesseract still pumped through his body. "He needs blood. He's dead, he needs blood, but his heart is still beating the fluid around. If he stays like this any longer he'll-"

Loki's eyes suddenly shot open, his eyes the brightest blue Thor had ever seen, his body regaining it's natural pale colour. Loki let out a scream, a look of worry on his face. The power going through him was unbearable. He shouldn't have drunk this. This stuff was not to be consumed! As Loki's body had stopped arching and lied still once again, a cackle of laughter left him, his eyes scanning the ceiling, Thor and the agents around them. He pushed himself up from the ground shakily, then took a step towards the agents. He looked like he was glowing blue, his skin no longer pale with a pink colour, as he was bloodless. He was blue, very light blue... No, Loki, what had he done...?

"Loki?" Thor asked, stepping before his brother, in between him and the agents. "You have to calm down," he spoke. Loki's eyes met Thor's and the colour of the madman's eyes made Thor's blue orbs look dull.

"I will not take orders from you," Loki spoke, raising his hand to Thor. The blue glow that came from his skin seemed to increase at his opened palm that faced Thor. "Kneel for me, or be defeated by the heir of the Tesseract," he spoke, grinning, a wicked look in his eyes as he looked frantically from every one man to the other.

"Brother," Thor spoke, but Loki did not respond to it, for he wasn't Thor's brother, he need not respond.

"I said; _kneel_!" he shouted and the power that was almost uncontrollably rushing through his veins had him blinded for a moment. It felt good, it felt amazing... Yes, he was powerful once more and he would travel to Asgard to regain his own magic to combine it with the Tesseract's might.

"No, brother," Thor spoke and he placed his hand on Loki's shoulder, the other moving to touch his cheek. Loki's eyes flickered, but steadied on Thor's a moment later, ready to listen and disobey. "This is not you! This is not the way."

"Not _your_way," Loki sneered his reply. "It's a perfect way."

"You're destroying yourself!"

"You've done that years ago, Thor," Loki said. "Now, begone!" he pushed Thor away from him and smirked as his push had actual effect. Thor stumbled back and although he was soon rushing forward to Loki again, the God of Mischief was quick to step out of the way. But of course, all the agents were bound to fire their weapons now... and Loki wasn't too sure whether his skin would hold the bullets. He duck behind one of the tables, filled with machinery that looked expensive enough not to want to shoot at.

"Loki!" Thor rushed towards him and grabbed hold of him before he could flee once more. This time he was flung to the other side, slamming into a table and falling to the floor once more. "Do you know what you've done?!"

Loki got up, turned to look at Thor, ready to continue their fight, but a moment later Thor was slamming him back down to the ground. Physically he was no match... and he had no true control of these powers. He tried to blast Thor away, but the God of Thunder resisted. Would a day come again in which he wasn't fighting one he once loved?

"I was betrayed," he sneered, looking at Thor as he spoke. He knew that Thor would not harm him further if he continued to talk, and in the meantime he could collect his energy to direct a fiercer hit. "I fell for the same trick. Kinship, love, friendship, whatever name we give to such fleeting things. I fell for it once more." He wondered where Tony was and whether he was pleased to be rid of Loki.

"He did not-"

"He betrayed me!" Loki replied, interrupting Thor. "Like you all do!"

"Actually, no," Tony's voice suddenly sounded and Loki looked up, distracted for the moment, as he watched Iron man come forth. Anger rushed through him and immediately he directed the strike towards Tony, which - of course - meant that Thor moved forward to take hold of him.

"Contain him!" one of the agents called. "Or we'll have to open fire."

Tony took only a moment to recover from the blast as he stepped forward. "You stupid idiot," he muttered, as he came closer to Loki, who was struggling against Thor's grip. "Do you realize what you're here for? They want to understand your works and now... you've suddenly made it a whole lot more interesting."

Loki's eyes flickered slightly as he looked from Tony to the agents. A menacing grin then formed on his face. "I am empowered by a source powerful enough to power your entire planet," he said, ending his sentence with a crazed cackle. Thor kept hold of him, stopping him from doing anyone else any harm.

"This is not who you are, Loki," Thor said, trying to make the mad blue eyes look at him.

"This _is_me, King. The Tesseract belongs to me, it completes me. It gives me all the power I need..." he said grinning up at Thor, then turning to Stark.

"You have become SHIELD's test rabbit," Tony said, stepping further into the room. He grabbed a few objects from the table. "This, this... this and this..." he started, lifting things up that Loki didn't recognise, "we all have no idea what it is and now you... you have shown us what that blue vessel does," Tony said, his iron finger pointing to Loki.

"And now you can see how powerful it has made me. Now you can see me rule your planet, rule all people!" he shouted, his body glowing still, his eyes flickering in a madness. "This is magic nobody can comprehend. It is magic understood by none but the possessor," Loki explained. "I know where it is, I can get it, I can consume it all!" he shouted. "I can create a race much more powerful than any God, any Elf, any sorcerer, any demon," Loki cackled. "I can create offspring empowered by the Tesseract, an entire race that is unbeatable," Loki spoke.

"How are you going to do that when you are locking in here, then?" Stark asked, taking a step towards Loki. "You cannot retrieve your own magic and this power is merely uncontrollable. This power is too great for a mortal to be able to even fathom," Tony spoke, placing a metal hand on the man's shoulder.

A distortion took place, a distortion in the magic running through Loki. The liquid consuming Loki's body, empowered by the Tesseract was not the only magic that was cast upon Loki. The magic that made him look like the human he was, that made him look like a God, still hung over him and the magic was colliding.

His eyes had flicked not from green to blue, but from blue to red, his skin suddenly taking on a much bluer colour, lines etched into the man's skin showing. But this was only for a fraction of a second, barely noticeable for Loki himself. Stark jumped back. "What was that?" he asked Thor, looking up at the God who's face had taken on a much more drastic expression.

"Loki, fight this..." he whispered softly.

Loki looked up at Thor, their eyes connecting and within a second Loki's body was limp, colliding to the floor. Tony frowned as this happened and took a step back. Thor leaned over him, speaking his name once more. Loki's body was still, but did not change back to his mortal form. Tony looked at Loki's blank expression and wondered what he'd done by bringing him here... He should have kept him at the Tower...

Suddenly bright balls of blue formed at Loki's palms. "Thor!" Tony spoke, but it was too late. The God of Thunder was blasted back by the power of the Tesseract and so were the agents. A wicked grin formed on Loki's face as he pushed himself up. Tony stepped towards him, stopping him.

"What a reassurance to know that my pranks still work on every single one of you," Loki smirked, leaning forwards to grab something from the table. He didn't care what it was, as nobody knew anyway. "Ah, I've seen one of these before... it's a weapon from Svartalheim..." Loki spoke, grinning up at Tony. Tony did a step back.

"Put that down, sweetheart," he spoke, grinning behind his mask, though fearing what the weapon would do. Loki then suddenly threw the weapon at him, making Tony dive to the side. Most of the agents were back on their feet, helping those with severer damage to get up too and it would only take another second for Loki to realize he either fled now or never. "Loki, tell me, hypothetically speaking could you survive a..." he shrugged, as if he thought about what exactly to ask him, "eight-hundred feet fall?"

Loki seemed somewhat puzzled and as he didn't immediately respond it became clear the God didn't know. A grin tugged at the corner of Tony's mouth and a moment later he grabbed hold of Loki and was rushing towards the window. Here they went again...

Crashing through the glass he took better hold of Loki right before he rushed upwards into the sky, taking the God with him.

Loki braced himself for the crash they made through the window, grabbing hold of Tony firmly as the iron man took him straight up into the sky, blasting past all the tall buildings, higher and higher up into the sky. Loki looked down, seeing how the buildings became smaller and smaller below him. "You better not be planning to do anything stupid," Tony said, "something stupid being killing me, for instance."

"I'm not stupid," Loki replied, obviously recognizing the stupidity of doing so, as it meant his inevitable fall.

Tony Stark flew higher and higher. "Now, look down, Loki," he spoke as he got about 800 feet high. "I can drop you," he spoke. It would be like falling from the very top of the Eiffel Tower. Not so nice, he presumed. "You will die if you fall, so you're not so mighty at all, are you?" he asked.

"You wouldn't get rid of me," Loki spoke, clinging onto Stark. "You care about me and not only that, but I'm SHIELD's little experiment. You wouldn't kill me, they'd punish you so badly."

"I don't think they would. I'd have removed a large threat from the planet. Isn't that fantastic for them?" he asked, taking a firmer hold of Loki, starting to fly a little higher, building up speed like this.

He remembered when Loki had taken Clint and Eric and had powered them by the Tesseract, a firm knocking out got them back, but how did this work with Loki? Loki had literally consumed a liquid empowered by the Tesseract, which had consumed all his blood... Loki had no blood to live on, would the liquid be knocked out of his body, but how would it leave him?

"Look down, Loki," he told the God again. He just laughed maniacally, still holding onto Stark firmly. "I could drop you, kill you, and I know I could do it, as you are a large threat. You could kill me and you will die also. Now tell me why you'd want to live."

"The only outcome of this is me and you returning to SHIELD," Loki then said, looking into the lights on Tony's mask, which were his eyes. "You took me here for me to say sorry, not to kill me and thus that is not an outcome of this game. I will not die and nor will you, nor will I apologise," a wicked grin appeared on Loki's face and Tony laughed softly.

"Actually, there's a different outcome of this I had in mind, Loki," he said, "if there is a bit of Loki in there, anyway," Stark added a little annoyedly.

"Oh and what's that?" he asked Stark, his eyes still flickering, though now once again from blue to green. He wondered what this magic was. Was this truly because of the Tesseract, or was it because he is truly a God, a God without his initial powers. Is a God without powers, but with powers replacing those, still a God? Stark chuckled softly at his own thoughts.

"Well, that's for me to know, and for you to figure out, hm?" Stark said, looking at Loki, trying to see if he bought it. All Tony got in response to his words was an annoyed snark. Now he just needed to figure out what Tony knew. Ha, smart move.

Apparently the liquid consumed blood, replaced it, as the heart continued to beat it through the God's body. There was no blood left to keep Loki alive, but what could happen is drain Loki of the liquid, fill him with blood and give his heart a jump start. Tony was thinking like Loki was a machine, not such a good approach, perhaps, but it may work, right?

"Do you want to fall?" he asked Loki, looking down at the man clinging onto the iron.

"What do you think?" Loki struck back, his voice vicious. "Would you want to?"

"No, but this is about you, not about me. Anyway, heights don't scare me so much as I'm pretty used to flying now," he said, looking around. "You see that building down there, the lighter one in that street?"

"Yes..." Loki said, though by the tone in his voice you could tell that he was _not _amused.

"Well, I'll meet you there," he spoke, grabbing hold of Loki's hands pushing him away from his body, letting him fall. Now he just hoped that this frightened Loki.

It wouldn't have been so bad if the memories hadn't returned. It wouldn't have been so bad if he hadn't tried to reach out to Tony, only to fail. If he hadn't been looking up and watching Tony disappear further and further, as he fell down. It wasn't the fall that scared him, it wasn't even the landing that scared him, it was that memory. That pang of immense regret he'd felt right when it was too late to change his mind. And it had been his pride that had stopped him from calling out to Thor... that he was sorry. That he would miss him for as long as his fall lasted.

He felt the air rush past him, much like it had done then and slowly his eyes turned to look at the ground, that wasn't too quickly rushing towards him. Panic went through him, remembering what had saved him last time. He'd rather not been saved at all than go through what he'd been through with the Chitauri.

He always knew his death would come at the end of a fall, a metaphorical one or a real one. (He'd always preferred the latter.) Yet, it felt wrong now. He'd too many things left unsaid, things that he'd ran through his mind last time he fell, but had never gotten round to changing. The opportunity to share with his brother his true feelings had never arose. He could only be honest when he was above Thor... and he never was.

His lies forever continued, for he never rose to what he aspired to be. He never walked the paths he should have and he never sat upon the throne that he wanted. And now he was falling down to the ground, possibly to death-

Suddenly, right when he'd closed his eyes, waiting for the impact of his crash into Earth, he changed course, felt arms wrap around him and pull him upwards again. He breathed in sharply, unknowingly having held his breath. His eyes opened and he looked up at Tony, immediately grabbing hold of him again, like he'd done before. He hadn't died... was all he could think for the moment. So, it had indeed not been Tony's intention to let him crash.

"Look down," Tony spoke and despite Loki's trembling, he still managed to do so. They were right up there again, possibly higher than before. "You want to go again?" Loki felt a lumb forming in his throat and if he wasn't careful his eyes would water too. No, he never wanted to experience that again. It were the worst memories... the worst thoughts and the darkest places.

"N- no..."

"You sure?" Tony asked.

"Yes!" Loki bit back. He wanted to hurt Tony, wanted to punish him for everything he was putting Loki through, but he had no chances of doing so. Not now, anyway. It frustrated him endlessly, but he had no idea what to do about it.

"Good, then you better behave," Tony replied. "One wrong move and I'm doing it again, without the part that I catch you."

And with that Tony was on his way back to that broken window, back inside the SHIELD building, where Thor stood waiting. Loki's eyes turned away from his brother's immediately. After all the thoughts he'd had he could not bare the sight.

"Take him," Tony spoke towards the SHIELD agents. "He won't do anything." They rushed forward and Loki felt his hands being bound, tightly. He said nothing and did nothing, as it was the only way he knew to preserve some of his dignity. The next moment he was blindfolded and not too long after that, gagged too. So, he was considered quite the danger, suddenly. That was good.

"We should sedate him," he heard one of the agents say and as that was certain to cause him to struggle, he felt Thor's grip on him. He felt how he was pulled close to his brother, almost in a hug... and the next, a stinging pain in the side of his neck and soon thereafter; nothing.


	7. Chapter 7) Behind blue eyes

**A/N: Thank you all for reviewing and welcome, new followers! I hope you had a lovely Christmas and still have a great New Year's celebration to come!**

**Chapter seven) Behind blue eyes.**

Thor found it hard to watch Loki bound, captured in SHIELD's prisons without bars. He didn't want to see how the serum had changed him, had made him so powerful, thirsty to kill, thirsty to feed more of the Tesseract. He was going crazy, being consumed, entirely.

He had stayed blindfolded for the longest of times, Thor remaining in the room watching how his body arched, how he groaned, muttering words to himself. He recalled a moment in which Loki's hands and raised up, his fingers racing over his own skin, his body arching. "I can see it... I can see it..." he'd whispered softly. Scientists of SHIELD spoke of the serum working in a way that when Loki had few senses stimulated, his mind connected to the Tesseract, seeing it. Every time they removed the blindfold from Loki's eyes, he became recognisable. The serum was driving Loki to insanity.

In the middle of the night he would wake cackling loudly, madly. Thor did not know how to stop the serum from consuming his every thought, his mind, his body. He didn't know the solution to this problem. Stark was on it, which Thor was incredibly thankful for. It showed that Tony truly cared about his brother and that mattered a lot. Even Bruce Banner had turned up after a little persuasion. The two scientists were working on it, as were many of SHIELD's own.

Thor wondered about what was happening to Jane, but he could not linger on the matter. Loki was his priority, perhaps for the first time in his life.

Almost a week later than Stark's little joke of flying his brother out of the window - which he'd got quite angry about later, as he could imagine him thinking of that days long fall Loki had already experienced - Thor sat on the edge of Loki's bed, softly caressing the God's pale forehead. He would not let Loki fall into this abyss, this power. "Loki," he whispered softly, his other hand gently cupping Loki's face. Loki was still asleep, but stirred slightly, his mouth opening a little to let a soft sigh escape. It was not often that Thor had the honour to see his brother at rest like this, to see him relaxed and open. However, this was no truth, this calm body. This sleep was not induced by Loki's own tiredness and peace, for that was not what Loki was like. Loki would be shouting to be released and would never give into sleep with Thor before him. Loki wouldn't... but the Tesseract, empowering Loki, would...

He brushed his fingers through Loki's hair once again, letting out a sigh. He needed to catch Loki and he needed to talk. He needed to pry Loki back out of this false life he was living, as he was not the Tesseract. However, these complications were great, too great for him, a God, to even figure out.

He didn't know how much of this was the Tesseract's power and how much of this was Loki's irrevocable will to _hide_... Somehow Thor needed to ensure that Loki's focus was no longer on stealth and lies, but on truth and daring to be who he was. He needed to make Loki feel like he could be himself. That certainly was a challenge he might not ever be able to complete.

"How is he?" Tony asked, standing in the door opening. Loki was bound to the bed, which was chained to the wall. Several mechanisms were in place to ensure the God of Mischief was not to escape. This way they could come near him, without being in too much danger.

"He's restless," Thor replied. Tony stepped closer and looked upon Loki himself.

"I actually thought he was, you know, getting a bit better, ridding himself of some of his... darkness," Tony said, watching Loki.

"He was," Thor replied, thankful that it hadn't gone unnoticed to Tony that his brother could be better. "What he did was not something he wanted to do. It was an act of fear."

"I'm afraid SHIELD will want to do more tests and it's quite possibly it won't help the matter."

"Then they should be stopped," Thor spoke.

"That's the problem... they won't be stopped," Tony replied. "Anything alien, weird or powerful and pretty immediately belongs to SHIELD."

"But if it won't help my brother get back, I will not allow it!"

"All I can say is that you should be glad they haven't tried to perform any tests on you yet, Thor," Tony replied, eyebrows raising. "And, if I were you, I would try not to provoke it too much. So, better stay out of their way. Besides, it's only costing them money to sustain Loki now and we aren't coming up with any decent methods to help him, so we might as well step down for now."

Loki stirred under Thor's touch, as the Thunderer let his fingers run through Loki's black hair, pushing the strands back. "He might be waking," Thor said, although he wished for Loki to rest a bit longer, for he truly needed it. His waking hours weren't pretty and neither of them ever looked forward to them. Especially with the foresight that SHIELD was going to perform some of their disgusting experiments.

"What will they do?" Thor asked, though it wasn't so much directed towards Tony, as it was a question in general. "I cannot bare to see you hurt again, my brother. Please return to me."

Loki's eyes suddenly opened and for a moment they were bright green, looking up at Thor in complete confusion and yet, in trust. His mouth opened and he was about to say something, when suddenly the black of his pupils widened and the colour of his eyes drained to become the same light blue they had been before.

"Loki!" Thor called, moving closer to his brother. Yes, he had been there, for just that one second he'd looked upon Loki, not the Tesseract. But what had he wanted to say? "Talk to me, Loki..." Thor said, trying to get his brother back once more. He wondered what had been the reason for Loki's return in the first place, but knew there might not be much logic too it. He liked to think it was his presence, his voice, but it might not have been. It might have been the Tesseract's momentary lowered guard, for all he knew.

"I wonder what he was going to say," Tony said, clearly also wishing he knew. What if Loki had the answer, but was simply unable to tell them, as he was severely suppressed. The thought pained Thor, but he could not let it get to him, certainly not now they had no solution yet. "Perhaps he just needs a kiss or something?" Tony said, shrugging, before he turned around to step outside again, as it was clear nothing else was going to happen.

Thor frowned at the strange remark, but had heard of stories where princesses were awakened by the kiss of a prince. He didn't quite understand what that had to do with the situation, but figured it was part of that strange humour he didn't quite understand. The strange thing, however, was that not too long after Tony had spoken those words, Loki's eyes flickered strangely, vividly, green and he seemed to be trying to get up and look at Tony. A soft, almost desperate, noise escaped him then and Thor looked up at Tony, who was about to shut the door.

"Tony, I think he doesn't want you to leave," Thor spoke, although he felt strange saying this. But what else could Loki have meant with this reaction. "Perhaps he wishes to make clear how comments such as the one you just made are simply not in order."

Tony had stepped back inside and was positively frowning as he looked at Loki. He supposed that he had become a familiarity to Loki, perhaps something he could anchor to, but for Loki to actually not want him to leave... that was something else entirely.

Loki didn't respond much when Tony sat on the other side of Loki's bed, opposite to Thor, nor did he respond when Thor carried on stroking his hair, though Loki's eyes did every now and then move to the one or the other.

"I wonder what goes through his mind," Tony spoke, by means of breaking the silence, "but I think I don't want to know."

"Hopefully he'll be able to tell us, soon," Thor replied. Tony nodded. He knew better than to believe this was an impossible ask, as they'd fought against stranger odds, but at the moment no solutions were coming up.

"I wonder if he could cure himself," Tony said. "If we were to somehow bring him back, I mean."

"Loki is strong, of course he could cure himself. It is not his power that is lacking, it's his motivation."

"Then we need to give him that motivation," Tony said, although he had no idea how that would work. Thor stayed silent for a moment, clearly thinking about the same. After a moment it became quite clear that no one knew what would make Loki want to come back. They'd all betrayed him and they'd all let him down. Except Thor everyone hated him, which didn't help either.

They let the God of Mischief alone in the room, after a moment.

~

Loki was not in this room when his eyes were blue and not looking at anything. He was with the Tesseract, that had taken on a human form, bonding with him, accepting him and taking him in. He loved her, the smoky Goddess that was the Tesseract, who accepted his every fear, his every mistake, his every doubt. She loved him for what he was and therefore he did not want to leave. The green eyes were scared of her and wished to come above water, but the blue... the blue could not live without her and would he be divided from her, he would do all to get her back.

All his dreams were of her and despite the pain she inflicted on his mind, he felt like he was worth something. He was hers and she was his and together they would make the world theirs. He would be King of all, and she would be his Queen, a blue, smoky, cold Queen. They would live together forever, they would rule and make everything they could find theirs. They would have the ultimate power.

The green struggled, ran from the blue, feared all to do with his Queen, but she would not have him walking away from her and so she took all she could and told him of the love she felt for him. She had never hated him, and would never disregard him, like all else had done in his life. She would never let him fall... _Fall..._

His nightmares in the green were all memories that hurt him, that terrified him to the brim of screaming and shuddering, walking up in a sweat, only to let the blue come and sooth him, tell him it was alright and then he'd forgotten all his fears and all that made him sad and held him safe in an embrace that became stronger and stronger by the moment.

~

They watched him from outside the room, picking up his brain activity and trying to figure out a logic cycle in the way he was acting. He went from resting to suddenly pulling on his bounds, screaming and wailing, shuddering and gasping, like he was having a nightmare, but it was much more severe than that.

They'd had a scientist in while he slept, checking his eyes during his sleep. When he was resting, quiet and peaceful, his eyes were green, the scientist had observed. Thought when nightmares occurred, which they could see by tracking his brain activity, being able to pick up the panic, they stayed green. Thor spoke about him always having had nightmares and thus that it was nothing strange. But once the screams came, his eyes were glowing blue, so bright that it was almost visible through his eyelids. He always glowed blue and Thor wondered how long Odin's magic would hold and keep him looking like he was now, or if the liquid, empowered by the Tesseract, would counter out the magic and would turn him back into a Jotün. He hoped, for Loki's own sake, that it would not.

"I'm going to check on him," Tony spoke, taking something from the table and putting it into his pocket.

"What did he just grab?" one of the scientists spoke, looking through the glass at Loki who was pulling against the bounds, slashing his body around.

"Stark, he is dangerous," Thor spoke, stepping after the metal man.

"No, he is not. Now just let me do this. I know psychology and a hell of a lot of science. I've studied the human brain, his most likely won't be so different. Now, I'm going in, you can see what I'm going to do," he said, stepping inside, shutting the door behind him. He did not wear his suit, nor any other protection and that worried them all a little, as he was not sure what he was going to do.

Firstly, Stark stepped towards Loki, his hand resting on the panicking God's brow. "Loki," he whispered softly, opening the God's eyes, that raced from side to side as he slept. Loki was in no way present, and thus he slowly started to undo his bounds around his waist, his legs and then, last but not least, his hands.

The God thrashed around more upon his bed. A shout left him and his arms stretched, a groan leaving him. His eyes then suddenly shot open and Tony took a step towards him, his hand moving into his pocket, to be quick enough if he needed to. "Loki," he spoke again, looking down at the man that was slowly pushing himself up. "What do you see, Loki?"

"Your death..." he growled, standing up, stepping forwards towards Tony, though having lain down for so long caused him to stumble a little. The expression on his face changed, though a cackle left him just after, looking back up at Tony with a wide grimace.

"And how are you going to kill me, Loki?" he asked, looking the God over. He just grimaced and raised his hand, letting the energy gather at his palm, the energy the Tesseract gave him.

Tony raised the weapon he had put into his pocket. "Know this one?" he asked, disregarding Loki's raised hand. He stepped forwards. "Think back at Wendy in Starbucks, she had one of these under the counter, this is what it looks like and I will show you what it does if you do not lower your hand right now."

"You don't scare me, Stark," Loki retorted, his eyes narrowed, a wicked grin still in place.

"Don't I, though?" he asked, stepping forwards. "I don't know what this stuff is doing to your body, but whatever it is, it is a lie, not you," Tony spoke, the taser still in his hand.

"I am fearless," Loki spoke, the blue flickering in his eyes. He was so pale, so blue and he looked dangerous, incredibly dangerous, but Tony knew he had an entire crew behind him that would stop him from being hurt.

"But you are not," Tony spoke. "The Tesseract is fearless as it is not a living thing. It is a blue cube that is pure energy, Loki. You cannot turn into that as you posses emotions, fears and things that pain you. Perhaps you cannot reach those things because this blue stuff it overpowering you, but it _is _there."

"This is _my _power!" Loki shouted. "Mine, all mine... this is me, Stark, you fool."

"You are missing a point, Loki," Tony spoke, taking another step towards the God, now standing a mere meter or so before him. "I flew you up high in the sky and dropped you, catching you but a second before you hit the ground. You would have died, but that was not you fear. It was your fear of falling, the fear of whatever those people did to you. You are terrified of being reminded of those memories and therefore you choose to let the Tesseract take you over entirely, so you can be in peace, fearless. But the Tesseract is torturing you, Loki, can't you see? You wither in your dreams, you scream, like you are screaming for comfort, for someone to help you," Tony spoke. "You scream like a baby without a mother, like a fallen child."

"You speak nonsense," Loki sneered. It was no lie, as Loki was convinced that he was no fallen child, nor a lost soul like Tony described him. He knew exactly who he was. The Tesseract had helped him find himself in that mess of thoughts, worry, fear and pain.

Tony took another step forwards, his eyes narrowing a little, connecting to Loki's eyes. "Then you say that you did not fear that fall," Tony spoke, his brown orbs gluing to Loki's blue ones. Loki's mouth opened, but for a moment he did not speak. He did not have words he could go by to explain what went through his mind, or he did not dare speak them. "You feared that fall, didn't you?"

Loki stayed silent for another few moments. A grin then formed on his face, his eyes starting to flicker more intensely, faster. A low laugh left his lips. "No."

A soft noise left Loki and his brows changed shape, turning into worry and pain, regret, as his lower lip was punctured, then his top, blue liquid trickling over his chin, green thread filling the holes and closing the gap between his parted lips. His eyes were no longer blue, but their normal green, fear filling them.

"Shh," Tony spoke, his hands taking hold of Loki's shoulders. A hand then moved to the back of his head, keeping him up. Loki need not to fear as this was for his own good. Tony saw how his nose flared, obviously showing how much pain he was feeling. His eyes squeezed shut as he frowned in pain and Tony saw the slight wetness in the inner corners of Loki's eyes. "I am sorry for your pain, Loki," Tony spoke, slowly guiding him back to the bed, sitting him down carefully.

Loki complied, although Tony was unsure why, as he never liked to listen to anyone, except himself. His eyes were moist, but he did not cry, which possibly made it even worse for Tony, who had difficulty enough dealing with emotional people as it was. He never quite knew what to say, especially not with Loki, who seemed a whole lot more complicated still.

Tony tried to think of what would undo the lie, but knew that whatever it was needed to come from Loki.

As Tony was clueless about what was going through Loki's mind, about the Tesseract and Loki himself, he really didn't know how to start helping him. He'd led him into the trap so far, how was he going to get him out? He let out a soft sigh, sitting beside Loki on the bed. "You got yourself out of this mess last time, Loki, you can get yourself out now," he spoke, raising his eyebrows a little in an expecting manner, though Loki didn't have his eyes on Tony.

Loki's frown had turned into an angry one and his fingers, pressing against the threads at his lips, made the light-blue liquid run out of the holes in his lips again. "Loki, look at this," Tony spoke, his hand moving towards Loki's mouth. Loki pulled away instantly. "Don't," Tony spoke firmly, taking hold of Loki's chin, his other hand moving over Loki's lips. The blue liquid shone on Tony's fingers. "This is not blood, Loki... this is a liquid that has consumed your blood and should not be in your body," he said. "I don't believe this is truly what _you_ want. Perhaps the connection you now have with the Tesseract has made you think you want it, but I don't believe you do," he said, wiping his hand on a tissue.

Loki looked away from Tony, his eyes showed emotion that Tony didn't want to know of, but at least it was Loki showing them and not some crazed monster the Tesseract had made him like.

"When you act crazily, Loki, your eyes go blue," he spoke. "They go bluer than I've ever seen them, because I have seen them like this before..." he told Loki. Did the God even know of this? "When you came to Earth to rule it, your eyes were blue... Thor says they were sometimes green, but I don't know that," he said. "When you were here, Loki, you were controlled... I don't know by what, but you were..." Tony said, not liking the way he spoke. He sighed a little, shaking his head a little. He wasn't good in this kind of talk. The scientific, talk was good and the casual conversations were too, when the subjects were right, but psychological stuff was usually not in his list of 'topics for casual conversations'.

At that moment, Thor stepped inside and Loki let out a soft whimper, getting up from the bed, walking away from Thor. "Loki, do not run from me, brother. I will not hurt you," Thor spoke, stepping towards him. He took hold of Loki's shoulders, then turned him around, making Loki face him. He moved Loki to sit back down on the bed and sat beside him. "I will take it over from you, Tony," Thor spoke, nodding towards his fellow Avenger kindly, thankfully. Tony had done a lot for Loki.

Loki again looked up at Tony, as if he didn't want to see him leave.

"Loki, explain to me what happened when you fell, Loki," Thor spoke, holding his brother close, but Loki only tried to get away, to sit a meter or so away from his brother. "Do you want to write it down?"

"I don't think he will," Tony said, standing at the door, not leaving, but waiting there. He leaned back against it, looking Loki over. Strangely enough Loki's eyes said differently and a moment later he was up on his feet, stepping towards Tony. Thor had wanted to reach out, but Tony had given him a look that clearly stated that he should let Loki.

Tony watched Loki step closer, not in the slightest intimidated by the God of Mischief. Yet, he certainly was intrigued. Intrigued to see the slight shifts in the God's green eyes. He was fascinated by the strange blue pulse that was so vaguely present that it hardly was there at all. He saw Loki's entire being response to the pulse and yet, ignore it.

"What is it?" he asked, though trying not to bring the question in a confronting manner. He merely wanted to know, he wished Loki could speak whatever was on his mind now, but he knew that if he could speak, he wouldn't. That was the frustrating thing. Loki wouldn't spill a thing when he could, when he was in control. But when he wasn't in control… this happened; Loki standing before him, helplessly, literally speechless, robbed of his silver tongue.

Loki held up his hands, palms facing the ceiling. He brought them closer, before looking down at them. Like he would do while holding a book… Tony's thoughts suddenly clicked into place and a moment later he stood up straight.

"You want me to get that book?" he asked. Loki didn't nod, but the absence of a 'no' was once again enough to confirm. The next moment Loki held up his right hand, holding his fingers in a way one would hold a pen, elegantly, mind you. "And the pen, got it."

"What book?" Thor asked, though didn't seem as confused as one might have been at Loki's strangely… submissive behaviour.

"There's this book he's been reading," Tony replied, vaguely. "You'll see it soon enough." And Tony was out, leaving Loki to stand in the opened doorway. The God didn't do a thing, but watch as Tony stepped away and went to get the things he'd requested. The next, as Tony had turned the corner, Loki's eyes flickered to icy blue. And thus his tricked had worked once more. He smirked, skin pulling on the green threads and causing the wounds to open again. He didn't need his silver tongue.

He stepped forward, out of the room and didn't look or move to cause the door to close firmly behind him. Locking Thor up in a room that was made to sustain a God willing to destruct. He smirked only more as he heard how Thor shouted from within the room for him to stop.

He turned to the puny mortals that stood before him. With his 'brother' locked away and Tony on his way to the Tower, there was no stopping him.

"Sedate him!" someone shouted, but he shoved aside the man that dared to step towards him. He raised his hands, in a victorious manner, veins glowing the coldest blue. The same blue that was slowly dripping down his chin. Yes, he was a monster, but they would learn to worship him as one. They would learn to obey him!

They were backing away and he revelled in it. They were trained for these sorts of things, but they would fail. They were made to fail against a deity of his grandness, and today he would teach them the lesson.

As always one of them ceased their retreat, a woman pointing her gun, but not using it. The gun would prove useless against him. It couldn't kill him. Like the wounds that had pierced his lips, the wounds would heal quickly. It might slow him, but never stop him. Nothing ever stopped him.

Thor was desperate to get out, but Loki merely sniggered at his attempts, not even turning to look. He did not need to see to know his brother couldn't get to him, he could feel the freedom. Feel the power he held over these people.

"You are outnumbered," the woman said bravely. "It is madness to go against us." He'd heard it all before, but this time being outnumbered wouldn't provide a problem. For no matter the numbers they called upon, he would always be stronger. Yes, it was madness, but madness was who he was. It was the very reason he needed to continue this act. This chaos and destruction.

It had wrecked havoc upon his mind… it was time to do what all great artists did; express themselves.

He stepped forward suddenly and grabbed the woman by her throat, throwing her across the room. Her head hit the wall and she slid down it, unconsciously. Now he couldn't talk he'd need to make sure his actions spoke loudly enough for them to understand not to cross him.

"We can't let him do this," one spoke up and his eyes immediately turned to meet the man's. He was relatively tall, but lean. There was nothing special about him, yet he had the guts to stand up like this? The disloyalty of these people disgusted Loki, but he was sure it had been SHIELD's indoctrination. If he'd conquered this place, the rest of the world would follow with ease. Yes, it was a perfect plan.

"A back up team is coming," a woman spoke up, holding up a device of some sort to prove her point. "They will be here at any moment. You better stand down, sir."

But he wouldn't stand now. Of course he wouldn't. This was the moment he'd been waiting for. The moment he'd prove everyone wrong. He would not make anyone proud, he knew that, but his wish to do that had long since passed. It had become a nightmare, not a dream. The torture he'd been through had safely settled this. Now he wished to do what he'd been tortured for, to complete the circle, so his guilty could fade. He wanted to show that he was capable! That he could do this, all alone. So he could finally say he didn't deserve all that pain.

"Step down!" the woman shouted, but he had already taken hold of her and was yanking her with him. At that objections were thrown, but no actions was undertaken. Perhaps this team of scientists had never learned how to properly fight. It caused him to laugh, although it tore only more on the threads. He didn't feel the pain.

He heard Thor shout his name, but he didn't listen. All he was focused on for the moment was the woman before him and the hand on her throat that stopped her from breathing soon became the connection he needed to make her the minion she was meant to be. No one would oppose him! After a moment he let her go and she fell to the floor, panting. Her brown eyes no longer dark.

"He's doing that thing again! Get her!" one of them yelled and the woman was pulled away from his feet. Someone was ordered to take her away from the scene. Loki wondered what the point of it was, but figured he didn't care. They were all wasting his time!

Suddenly from the other end of the hallway a team came rushing up to them. This team didn't seem half as confused as the people before him… Damn.

Still, no challenge was too great and he was their rightful ruler. They would learn this today and they would regret not following him sooner. He would not refrain from severe punishment, after all. They deserved it!

"Stand down!" one of the men shouted, now the team had come to stop before him. They wore armouring of some sort, but Loki was certain it wouldn't held against his powers. The powers of the Tesseract. Did these mortals not understand he had the power to blow up their entire planet? It was a miracle it didn't bring him right to the brink of madness, but of course… he was always already there and perfectly capable to keep from falling.

He directed the blue energy towards the leading man and soon blast him backwards. He didn't kill, for it was not death he wanted, it was obedience. But surely, the man would be out for a little moment. The team was immediately under control of another, however.

If they liked to play this game, he could play along for their sake, and make it just a little less fun each time. They forgot that he could _torture_. Immediately he focussed on the man again, that had lost his consciousness and a moment later he was screaming, riling in pain. Loki looked away, immediately forgetting the sight that had played out before him and the screams ceased. Ah, he could see the shock in every one of their eyes, no matter the determination they showed at standing their ground.

They would _all_ fall before him. They would all kneel!

His eyes connected with one of them and he stepped towards her. Despite her effort, he could see her step back. A low chuckle escaped him, though the tugging on the thread caused him slight pain once more. Stupid curse…

"He's only playing with us," one of them said. "He won't kill."

Ah, that was a blunt conclusion to make, Loki decided and he immediately stepped forward. He let the man fall to the ground, by making the same connection he'd made with the man before. This time he didn't look away. He let the man scream and plead. He watched the body twitch and never stopped. They needed to learn this lesson and he would teach them well.

"Stop, stop this!" one of them called, while others were trying to get the man calm. But nothing worked. Yet, there was one vital thing Loki needed to keep in mind… that each time he used this magic he was growing weaker. The Tesseract might be unlimited, but this was _not_ the full magic of the Tesseract, nor was Loki – the Tesseracts connection with this world – inexhaustible.

He would kill this man and it would make others realize not to stand up for themselves. It would make them realize they were stupid to resist and that everyone that dared to stand up and oppose him would die. He would silence their uproar by ending this man's life. It was an offer he gladly made.

The man's terror lasted and although it was a sight Loki did not like, he felt little at this moment. He needed to do this. It needed to be done and he would prove himself capable. He was strong enough and he had the willpower to go on. No more failure.

But he was weakening, as was the man's struggle. It wouldn't take much longer, but he needed to focus, causing it to be continuously more difficult to keep an eye on his surroundings. Certainly no one would dare to harm him, now they knew what he was capable of. So, he did not worry.

Though, at the gasp that went through the room and the sudden upheaval of talk, he needed to strain his focus away. And not a moment later, causing his connection to the man to wither entirely, he was pulled back. For a second he wondered whether Tony had returned faster than he should've, but this wasn't so. It was much worse than that...

He turned around and came eye to eye with the green monster that had so brutally made an end to his schemes last time. He did a hesitant step back, while simultaneously trying to come across like he did not fear at all. Not a combination one easily made to work.

He heard how behind him people were ensuring the tortured man's safety, but he did not let it distract him. These mortals would not dare stand up to him.

Loki struggled to get free from the monster's grasp, but all effort he put into getting away, was for nothing as the monster was much stronger. He turned to face the Hulk and let out a laugh, his lips pulling on the thread. He _knew_ how the guy did not like the fact that he turned into this humongous beast, well who would?, surely he could do something with that information to stop him from being hurt... but how could he without speech? The man he'd lied to was not present, so how could he undo the lie?

He tried to pry himself out of the Hulk's grip, but as the green monster made his way through the building, Loki wanted to spend more of his attention on actually trying to predict what the monster was going to do next, so he could prepare himself for it. He felt how he was being squashed in the monster's grip, having a difficulty breathing, but what came next was worse.

Not only was he falling, but he'd been thrown straight through a thick window, making it shatter, splinters entering his skin. He gasped in pain, his eyes having little time to adjust to the speed he was falling at, seeing the ground come close again, though soon the Hulk jumped too and caught Loki out of the sky. He breathed in in panic, letting out a soft noise, fear entering him as they kept falling. His hands held onto the monster's skin, hating the feeling in his stomach, it making tears fill his eyes, but again, he did not let them fall. He never would. Never again would he show his weakness, for nobody would accept him for what he hurt for. Not Thor, not Odin, not Frigga, not Stark... nobody.

The impact that he and the Hulk hit the ground with was immense and he felt his head snap backwards, a groan leaving him. So, this was the monster's plan to keep him away from the people he'd tried to rule? That must mean he wasn't actually planning to kill him. That was good news, though not necessarily good enough.

Loki was scrambling up from the ground, trembling visibly. Though, the moment he turned to face the Hulk the fear of the fall was quickly replaced by the fear of whatever was to follow. What _would_ follow?

He raised his hands as the Hulk stepped closer and he backed away, trying to make clear that the other had to wait, that he wasn't going to do anything. If only he could talk! If only he could speak of his own monster. If only he could make clear that actually; _he understood_. And there certainly was a way. He could show it. His eyes shifted to look around, flickering from green to icy blue quite compulsively. The street was small and empty.

The Hulk was still nearing him and was about to reach out to grab hold of him when he did the only thing he could think of. The only thing that might stop the Hulk's harassment. He, for the moment, undid the magic that made him look the way he did. His eyes started flickering red, but never turned to look up at the monster before him. He felt terrified, but rather lived than take the chance that this mortal body couldn't handle whatever the Hulk had in mind for him. He rather humiliated himself further...

It was only after a moment that he dared look up, as he realized the Hulk had stopped the advance and attack. There was a strange look in the Hulk's eyes, that all too sudden Loki returned. It was understanding, certainly, but it was more than that. It was the realization that they weren't so different as one might suspect. That they shared something that they'd never shared with anyone.

The Hulk gave him a slight nod and a moment later the blueness faded back to Loki's mask. He let out a breath, through his nose, of relief. His fear had momentarily dimmed down.

The Hulk took a step closer and scooped Loki up, though his grasp was softer this time. Loki cringed a little as he didn't know what was going to happen next. The monster looked up, then suddenly jumped, causing Loki to fling his arms around the green monster to stop himself from falling. As he looked down, he saw how far up he'd jumped. Why did he have to be tortured by heights constantly? And why did he have to be humiliated by having to hold onto the Hulk like there was no tomorrow? They said that he was bad...

He braced himself as the Hulk threw himself back into the building and was glad that no glass entered him this time. Within moments, an injection was pushed into his skin and it felt like he was burning from inside and he glowed brighter, but nothing happened, he did not pass out. Again, he was injected, but it just got consumed by the blue liquid, making him grin, pulling at his lips. Nobody could stop him...

Not a moment later his eyes connected to Thor's, who stepped towards him. Clearly someone had figured that in Loki's absence it was perfectly okay to release Thor from the makeshift prison. He growled, veins burning as they made sure to rid his body of the toxic that was so brutally forced into him. And every single thing cost him energy, that was the worst of it...

"Brother," Thor spoke, with that pained sentiment in his voice that Loki had come to hate so fiercely. "You must try to see reason." But Loki would not listen to his pathetic rants on reason and righteousness, when Thor's betrayal had hurt above all others. His brother's words were _empty_ and he showed no emotion listening to them.

Loki had so much he wanted to say, so many things he wanted to hurt Thor with, but he couldn't, for the stupid thread was sealing his lips still. How could he break the spell when Tony wasn't even here to be truthful to, even if he had a means to undo the lie.

The true problem, however, was that he now _was _outnumbered. Thor before him, the Hulk behind him and all the puny SHIELD agents surrounding him. And soon Tony would come back, which would mean he stood no more chance at all.

Loki, feeling maddened with frustration, suddenly directed this towards Thor. He tried to catch his mind like he'd done with the mortals before and sure enough Thor groaned. He did not fall to the floor, nor did it stop Thor from moving forward. Loki tried to induce more pain, more horrible memories... but it did not stop the Thunderer.

And soon Loki found himself moving out of the way as Thor's hammer came straight towards him. His powers were fading and the next connection with Thor he tried to make cost his own concentration and he was slammed into the ground with brute force. He let out a grunt, though immediately got up onto his feet. Thor's hand clasped around his upper arm and he was yanked the other way. Like it had always been, Loki's strength was no match for Thor's... especially not in his mortal form.

He spun around and hit his head against one of the tables. His cheekbone and nose went numb for a good few second, before the pain settled in. His hands moved up to feel the damage, the bruise that reacted awfully to the touch. And worse, his nose was blocked entirely as he was bleeding heavily. It was only when he suddenly felt out of breath that he realized just how big a problem that was. Yet, Thor seemed to have forgotten about the matter, as he was picked up again.

"Listen Loki! You cannot win! Give up this pathetic game!"

Loki's hands moved up and frantically he began to pull the strings, trying to part his lips. Every slight opportunity to breath was _something_, but it certainly wasn't going to sustain him forever. He tried to wipe the blue blood away, but it kept coming.

Thor pulled his hands away from the thread as he was threatening to pull them through his skin and he almost frantically shook his head, desperate to make clear that he was choking. But he couldn't _speak_. And surely enough he was forced down onto the ground, restrained with multiple chains. He could feel his lungs burn and he tried to pull his lips apart without the use of his fingers. The pain was excruciating, but the fear of choking held him in its grasp.

He was panicking, trying to clear his nose, but the bone seemed broken, or the blood was clogging enough to allow him no air. He pulled the bounds frantically, his body trembling into that strange unconscious daze as the denial of oxygen was starting to take its toll.

He felt more and more restrained and all the time the panic was racing through him, causing that horrible rush of adrenaline. What was worse was that he tasted the blood in his mouth, and he was starting to choke on it, as it ran down his throat. But hardly any noise escaped him to indicate what was going on. He felt awfully weak and had no idea where Thor was. Thor... the only one he truly wanted at this moment. The only one who would - if he looked into Loki's eyes - know what was going on. And the only one who would truly care... despite how he shouldn't.

Right when he thought everything was over, that he would slip into unconsciousness and not long after that into death... his lips tingled, like the thread was slipping away, fading... He gasped, fiercely. He coughed violently, his body aching and arching. He spit out blood, before breathing in sharply again. His lungs stung in relief and his eyes were tearing.

"Loki, Loki!" Thor was suddenly kneeling beside him, one hand moving Loki's hair out of his face and the other on his shoulder. "What is amiss?"

"Are you fucking _stupid_?!" Loki shouted, before continuing to cough and breathe unevenly, panting heavily. He was trembling badly, crying out of sheer relief that he was breathing once again. Thor didn't speak for the longest of moments, probably realizing what had happened and hopefully feeling incredibly guilty.

"You're okay, Loki..." he spoke soothingly, his voice awfully silent. Tear streamed green eyes shot up to meet Thor's, distrust shimmering in them clearly. "I wish you weren't so afraid of the truth, my brother."

"Not your brother."

"Loki, you _are_ my brother," Thor spoke. A mad smirk pulled on the corner of Loki's mouth.

"If I were... then why can I still talk, Thor?" he asked.

"Because you believe you speak the truth," Thor replied. "It's only that... _your_ truth. Not mine."

"Feel free to believe in your imaginary brother, _Thor_, because I haven't seen him in _years_," he sneered.

"Take him," Thor spoke to the people as he got up and stepped away from Loki, who was soon thereafter pulled up from the ground, to be secured once more in a prison cell, chained even more tightly this time. The collar around his neck was no doubtfully more than just another rope, as he was certain it looked too fancy for merely that. Whatever its further functions were, however, he hoped not to experience.

When they seemed about done securing him, he finally looked up, as the door closed. He was forced onto his knees, arms chained together behind his back, with a chain that was tightly secured to the wall behind him. Both his ankles were fastened to the ground. The chain wasn't so short that he couldn't move anymore, but it was certainly not an easy task. The chain around his neck forced him to stay upright, as leaning forward would cause him to choke. What he soon came to realize too was that that meant he couldn't lower himself to sit on the ground in any other way than this, nor could he stand up as the chain to his hands made sure of it. He was forced to remain on his knees.

And he was the one playing sick games?


	8. Chapter 8) A newly found game

**A/N: I hope you all had a lovely New Year's celebration! Thank you for reviewing and following, it means a lot!**

**Chapter eight) A newly found game.**

Tony hadn't yet shown the book to Thor, as he was unsure whether that was something he should do, as Loki probably didn't like the idea so much that he'd unwillingly share so much. It didn't seem fair and therefore Tony spoke little about it. They had stringed together the reason Loki's thread had disappeared when they did, however. It was quite simple… Tony had read the truth. But apart from his fear of falling, so much more was explained and expressed. Some things Tony didn't even dare read. He felt enough pity for the God of Mischief as it was and he definitely couldn't do with anymore of it.

"He's growing only weaker and weaker," Tony said, thinking out loud. "That's good in a way, but… not so good in another." Thor stayed silent, wishing there was a way to help his brother. Bruce joined them soon thereafter, though the mood lightened little. In fact, it seemed to get only worse, as Bruce admitted not being able to stand watching Loki's pain any longer.

"What are they doing?" Tony asked bravely, though Bruce waved the question away, a somewhat disgusted look on his face. Whatever it was, everyone seemed to agree that it was better than nothing. SHIELD was getting results, where they weren't. They were triggering responses from Loki that could help them differentiate between the moments Loki was himself or merely inspired by the Tesseract's strong will to overpower and destruct.

"It is not right," Thor said. "He deserves the punishment, but it will not help him. No punishment ever clears him of sins. He grows only more distance."

"Well, he was doing pretty alright when he was at the Tower, before he decided to kill those agents that came after him," Tony replied with a shrug. "I mean, he went through tough shit not too long before that and I wasn't really… helping him get better. Yet, he _was_getting better."

"He's… remarkably strong, yes," Bruce suddenly spoke and it caused both Thor and Tony to look up at him with a frown painting their faces. Bruce had never spoken of Loki in any other way than disgust. What was this sudden liking for the God? Or had they misinterpreted the tone in the scientist's voice? "Well, something happened between us, I can't really… explain it. I can, but…"

"What do you mean; 'something happened between us'?" Tony asked, repeating what Bruce had said. "Something doesn't just happen between you and that… err… between you and Loki."

"He couldn't talk, so he showed me. It was quite respectful, actually."

"Showed you what?" Tony asked and to his own horror he recognized the tone of jealousy in his voice. Luckily Bruce wasn't attuned to picking these sorts of things out. Thor suddenly interrupted them;

"His Jotun form," he said. "Did he show you?" Bruce nodded and it seemed to confuse Thor, even when he'd already expected that answer. "He's never even showed _me_his Jotun form."

"Not to burst your bubble or anything," Tony spoke, "but he doesn't really think much of you, other than… an intense hatred and the will to kill you." Thor ignored it, wisely, as his point had been made and it seemed to move Bruce quite a bit.

"It's wrong what they're doing…" he spoke. "The experiments. They need to be stopped."

"Is there another way?" Thor asked. "To find these answers."

"If there isn't, there's _no_way," Bruce replied determinedly. "I won't stand for this any longer. Have you seen him?"

"I do not think it wise to burden myself with a sight I cannot change," Thor replied, looking down.

"Well, as of this moment we will change it. No matter what SHIELD says."

"I like this new attitude, Banner," Tony said, nodding appreciatively. "Alrighty then, let's go. It seems we have a damsel in distress to safe."

"Don't ever tell him that," Thor replied, though he was grinning widely at the prospect of saving Loki from all the pain he was enduring.

"Oh, I'll be damn sure to tell him."

Loki had lost the feeling in his legs a while ago and he'd come to understand exactly what the collar around his neck was for.

Whenever he was about to slip into exhaustion or slum down, electric shocks were made to run through his body, causing his mind to immediately snap awake again. Slowly, but surely, he was finding himself in an inescapable prison of half-reality. He was quite capable of handling pain and torture, but this was something else entirely. His mind was weakening and so was his ability to remain silent and still and unaffected.

Was this their plan? To break him down, so they could slowly start to dissect every vessel of his mind? What did they think they'd find? Loki was afraid of the answer himself and tried his hardest to stop them from coming in, from truly breaking him up, tearing him apart, but it was so very hard…

The Tesseract's powers were all that kept him going, but it was tiresome. This mortal body was not made to sustain torture of this sort. He'd been through much worse, but never had he felt so belittled. These were humans, with no particular talents or powers. They had no magic and yet they controlled his every move. The only thing he had control over was what he _said_and he didn't say anything.

No matter the question. No matter the innocence of the matter. Did he want something to drink? Of course, but he wasn't going to admit it. He wasn't going to let someone help him! He would not sink so low…

But he was slowly growing more and more desperate. He knew not where Thor was, but knowing he was aware of the torment Loki went through and yet not stopping him, once again proved the point; he was made to be betrayed. He was prepared for it and the sting was only mild. It was nothing, but _just_another confirmation of what he already knew. He was worthless and Asgard was better of without him. The people he once saw as family were glad to be rid of him and he stood alone on a planet that wanted him dead and held him a prisoner on his knees.

He would not break. He would rise once more and he would kill every single one of these people. He memorized their faces so he wouldn't forget who had brought this torture upon him. He would not let them roam freely again. He would project all his pain on them and they would scream and break where he had managed to stand strong. And he would look down at their dying faces and tell them this was what they were made for; to be murdered by him; their king that had suffered at their hands. He would not allow it!

Often he found himself hallucinating, watching these people sink to their knees before him, while pleading for the mercy he would never grant them. He would be laughing manically, while they tormented his body. It did nothing to him. The pain meant nothing, but it was yet another reason to hate these mortals. And oh, he harvested so much hate for them in his heart that it would take half this planets population to right what had wronged him. He would stop at _nothing_! And all would fear and admire him.

"Loki," a voice spoke and he was snapped out of his thought to look at a woman before him. Her voice was monotone, as was the expression on her face.

"You will _die_, you hear me?" the God replied, voice low.

"You need to answer me," she spoke. Here they went again… and he wouldn't answer. Didn't they _know_? They weren't capable of such deeds!

"What lousy questions will you be boring me with today?" he asked. His voice was hoarse from the lack of hydration, but as he hadn't been screaming like one might've expected him to, he could still manage to control his voice perfectly.

"You are not planning the destruction of this planet on your own," she stated and it caused him to laugh.

"_Stupid bitch_…" he sneered. Sometimes there were no better words than the first that came to mind. "I am alone."

"You have allies."

"You are mistaken," he said, smirking. "I have no equal, thus I have no allies."

"Someone ordered you to get the Tesseract. Someone imposed on you the will to yield its powers," she said, probably puzzling together the things Thor had told her and their own research.

"Listen to me," he said, frustration shimmering through. "If I had allies, then where are they now? My _brother_does not come to my aid and you believe me to have made allies?"

"Then is it somebody you work for?" the woman carried on, despite his fierce answer.

"I do not work for _anyone_," Loki retorted, his eyes narrowing up at her. "There is nothing alive whom I stand under, therefore there is nobody who can give me orders."

"Perhaps you have been made to take orders," she said, stepping forwards, bending over so she got a little closer to him. This angered him and if it were not for the lack of water he still had in his body, he would have spat in her face.

At that moment, the door got Forced open, Thor, fully suited, stepped inside. "I apologise for my interruption, my lady. You would be a dear woman to wait outside," he said, taking her by the shoulders and standing her in the door opening. Thor spun his hammer in his hand, then raised it up high. Loki already braced himself, but as something else than expected happened, he let his breathing go. His throat was freed, suddenly causing him to fall forwards, with nothing to keep him up.

Bruce, daring to take a look at Loki, daring to be in his presence, rushed forwards and took hold of Loki's shoulders, not speaking, but keeping his head from hitting the ground. Thor continued to free his brother and if Loki had the power, he would have escaped, but now, nothing like that went through him. Nothing, but relief did. His body was once again free... free to move...

Thor leaned over, scooping Loki up in his arms, seeing how his brother's eyes were falling shut. Whatever they had done to him, it was not good.

"You can't do this," one of the scientists said as Thor left the cell with Loki. "He is a danger to all."

"You can't stop me," Thor spoke. "He is my brother and what you are doing is torture. That is not righteous in any way and thus, I will not let you continue," Thor spoke, looking the scientist over before stepping further out. Bruce gave the scientist a few looks, apologetic ones, all saying: Thor has a point.

And so they left, getting in Tony's car that waited outside for them, taking them back to the Stark Tower. If SHIELD was going to torture Loki to get him better, they were wrong. Thor, Stark and Bruce would fine a good way to figure this out... right?

The way to the Tower, Thor spent running his fingers through Loki's black hair, whispering to him that he would be fine, that he would be taken care of and that he was safe. Loki's safety and sanity was a definite priority right now. And they were both at risk. Loki didn't once wake on the journey to the Tower, but neither one of them said a word about it. Everyone was anxious... anxious that perhaps they had been too late in the decision they should've made from the start. But how could they have denied SHIELD, when there had been people almost them tortured by the very God they held captive?

"It will probably be a matter of days before they show up again with another few good reasons why they should take Loki," Tony muttered, while they were taking the God up to the room he'd made his bedroom. At least some recognition might do him good, Tony figured. "So, any ideas on how we are going to get him back?"

Loki lied on the bed and they were all watching him. It seemed almost surreal, as they weren't supposed to give a fuck, let alone give multiple fucks, about the God that had actually stood a chance at ending them once.

"He needs to drink," Bruce said, probably having noted the God's chapped lips. He was so very pale... One might almost think him dead. Tony had gone to get a drink, while Thor stood leaning against one of the cupboards in the room, observing his brother. "Certainly there must be a way...?" Bruce started, probably trying to clear away the silence in the room, as it certainly wasn't a comfortable one.

Not at _all_.

As Tony returned with the glass they were still silent. "It seems like the ice needs to be broken, hm?" Tony said, putting the glass down beside Loki. "Who's going to do it? Thor, I'm sure you fed him as a baby once you can do it now too," he said, stepping back with a slightly annoyed look on his face. He didn't like this situation.

Thor only let out a sigh and stepped towards Loki, moving his hand under his brother's head, slowly pulling him up. He brought the glass to his lips and poured a small amount of water into his mouth. Nothing happened for a while, not even when Thor pushed his mouth shut and stroked his throat to make him swallow. "It's not working, he won't swallow," Thor said, looking around.

"Well, is he breathing?" Tony asked, taking a step towards the God. He leaned over and felt his soft breath on the back of his hand that came out of his throat. "Good," he said, then grabbed hold of Loki's nose, stopping him from breathing. A frown appeared on Loki's face and his mouth opened once again, but as he could not move his body, he panicked, not being able to breathe in the water. Then suddenly he swallowed and Tony let go of his nose again. "Now carry on, he'll remember he needs to swallow now, or at least, his subconscious will," Tony spoke, walking away from Loki, looking at Bruce.

"Banner, come and show me those records of yours, leave those two alone," he said, motioning to Thor and Loki. Bruce followed Tony down a floor and to the labs, leaving Thor alone with Loki and slightly clueless.

After a while, Thor got his brother to have quite a few sips and he could see that it was going a little better, somehow. "I wish you could hear me..." he said, stroking Loki's hair. "I wish you could know that we don't hate you, Loki, but that we do care... We want the best for you, Loki, everyone at home... they want you back, my brother, they want you to get well again and come home," he said, leaning down to press a kiss to Loki's forehead. This, made him stir and as Thor moved up to look Loki over, he saw that his brother was once again frowning.

The helpless look that had overcome Loki made Thor think of when he indeed was a young boy, when Loki had fallen sick and he had to care for him. Loki never liked it and thus Thor only came when he slept, but mostly, thinking back at the times now, he was gone. He had his friends to play with. Mother could look after Loki, but she was so often busy. A sigh left him and his hand moved over the side of his face. Thor had always been just a naïve and young child. He had been ignorant of Loki's unhappiness and unaware of his loneliness and so he had not lingered on it, but carried on to lead the life he wanted to, with his own friends.

Loki came along, because he wanted him to, but never did he ask Loki if that was what he wanted... Thor ran his hand over his own forehead this time, letting out a sigh. How could he have been so stupid? There is was; stupid. Loki always called him that and now he realised just why.

"Knock, knock," Tony stepped into the room, "any improvement?" Thor looked up at Stark and shook his head, sighing a little.

"He's had something to drink and he frowned," Thor spoke, looking down at Loki, whose lips were again parted. "I don't think he can properly breathe through his nose, like it is stuffed," he said, again brushing a hand over Loki's hair. Tony stepped closer, looking him over slowly. He looked at his nose, wondering if it was perhaps broken. He'd heard the story of Loki's nosebleed from the scientists and wondered if anyone had bothered checking his nose.

"It looks swollen slightly, maybe it's swollen from the inside," Tony said, to which Thor nodded and looked at him closer.

"I might have healing stones-"

"He is mortal now," Tony retorted, holding his hand up to stop Thor. "Let him heal in the natural way, not with magic."

"But it is magic that is paining him," Thor spoke, turning towards Tony.

"Then don't make things more complicated and send him in a turmoil of a magic fiasco," Tony said, not so sure what he was talking about. Thor only frowned. "I mean... just, don't."

"Okay..." Thor replied, looking down at Loki, his pale brother. At least he was still breathing...

"We'll think of something," Tony said. "Hey, it might even teach him the lessons the thread never could." Thor didn't look up at Tony, but kept his eyes fixated on Loki, who did not seem to be waking at all. What was happening to him? Ever since they'd taken him away from SHIELD he'd been unconscious, while he'd seemed fine - close enough to it, anyway - when talking to the woman Thor had kindly asked to step aside.

"He is such a brilliant liar," Thor spoke, bitterness in his voice. "And there's no one that will ever be able to know his absolute truths, for he will never speak them. No one will know of his true feelings, for he does not trust anyone with them."

"Don't burden yourself with thoughts like that," Tony replied. "I mean... just tell him that when he wakes up." Certainly there was no reason for Loki not to wake up, after all.

"What troubles me most is that he does not dream now," Thor replied, lying Loki down somewhat more comfortably than he'd been lying before and making sure the covers were covering him properly. "It's almost like his mind is gone."

"Don't be ridiculous," Tony replied. Thor stood up from the bed a moment later and was on his way out of the room.

"Oh, I don't like the idea of him being alone. Will you please watch over him?" Thor asked.

"You mean, make sure he doesn't escape?" Tony replied, but he was already stepping to Loki's bed. "Yeah, I can do that."

It was strange to watch over Loki as he 'slept'. He could not do anything at this moment, but lie there. He was so vulnerable to Tony, he could do anything to him! Tony let out a soft laugh at the idea. If Loki wasn't sleeping, whatever Tony did to him, would be stopped. But Loki _was _asleep.

Tony had his feet up on the bed, sitting back in one of the chairs, just looking around the room, then taking out a small screen from his pocket. He pulled on the corners making it bigger. "Lock," he spoke, hanging the screen in the air. He started to type things in about muscle failure, but everything he found was unrelated to the torture Loki had gone through and he wasn't about to go through all the long lists of torture methods. Of course Loki had been deprived from sleep, for days on end, and thus it was logical that he had fallen into this state. Tony hoped that Loki truly only was sleeping and that he was not slipping into some kind of coma, or a Tesseract-induced sleep. He was about to laugh at his own words when he saw movement from the bed: Loki's hand suddenly squeezing shut.

"Unlock," he spoke and pushed the screen to a smaller size to fit into his pocket. He got up and looked over Loki, seeing the frown on his face. He seemed to be in pain...

Tony looked him over for moments, then suddenly realised something. He didn't like what he would have to do, but as he moved forwards and took hold of Loki's shoulders, he started to rub them regardless of what he thought of it himself. A more pained look spread over Loki's face, but it looked the same, which meant that he was right about the pain in Loki's back and shoulders. He must be hurting _everywhere_...

A gasp left Loki as Tony rubbed a little harder, to which Tony found himself shushing him, in an almost sweet manner. Tony Stark... sweet? He continued to rub Loki's shoulders, feeling his muscles were trembling beneath his fingers, but were slowly becoming less hard too. It took longer than fifteen minutes until he finally gave up. Loki's face was already a lot more content and thus, he felt like he could take a break before his own shoulders were going to hurt.

The bruises covering the God's neck had also not gone unnoticed, but Tony wasn't all too sure why they were so awfully reddened. This wasn't merely something a tightened collar would do, but he was afraid to find out what had caused his skin to seem so incredibly sore. It almost seemed burned, in a way...

"Loki..." Tony whispered softly. Hey, it was worth a try! If he could get Loki to wake up, they might find out just how this whole thing with the Tesseract was shaping up. At the moment they had no idea, after all, whether Loki was even still there. In fact, the longer he stayed out of it the closer the Tesseract might get to the surface. None of them knew exactly how this worked, but Tony had the strange idea that only Loki could stop it, simply by wanting it. His body could fight the Tesseract, like it would fight a decease. It would probably be quite the battle, but it should be doable for one so determined as Loki. Right now the problem simply was that he didn't want to fight it. He liked the Tesseract's powers and he liked how it seemed to accept him, regardless of what he was. Ah, but it was only using him. It would accept any victim, especially a willing one like Loki.

But how, exactly, where they going to bring this to the God and why would he believe them? More so, what was he going to do to change his mind about this thing? It wasn't like he was suddenly going to find a love for all things living, or something...

Loki didn't even believe them when he said he was controlled during the would-be destruction of New York city. Tony did not know by who or how, but it had something to do with what was going on now. Had he then too been powered by the Tesseract?

Tony suddenly grabbed his screen from his pants and searched for Loki's sceptre. He had information on it somewhere. A picture came up, which he zoomed in on. Yes, that was also blue... it was a long shot, but what if that was also powered by the Tesseract?

Tony then sat down on his chair, sighing. Now he had that knowledge, what did it help, what did it change? Would it help to convince Loki that he was being overpowered by something? Would it show Loki that he was being controlled and that, if he truly wanted to rule on his own, he would have to break these bounds.

But under the influence of the Tesseract, wouldn't Loki be oblivious of such thoughts? They needed to catch him off guard, they needed to catch him when the Tesseract was not taking him... but once again: _how?!_

The Tesseract was merely a thing, an object, an energy, it did not feel. Loki, on the other hand, felt very much, which probably made it only more difficult for him to stay away from the 'blissful emptiness' the Tesseract offered. It served as a relief to his pain and it was a relief Loki very much longed for.

Perhaps if there was a way to dull that longing somewhat and to bring forth emotions and feelings that would stir Loki. Things that would actually make him feel good. That seemed an impossible task, however, as the only happiness the God seemed to feel was sadistic humour at those that were below him. And it was no true happiness.

But there had to be something the God _wanted_?

Immediately Tony was up on his feet and rumarging through his stuff to get that book out. The book Loki had written full of thoughts and secrets, that for some reason he seemed to need to get out of his head. Parts weren't eligible to Tony, as they were either written in languages he did not understand or so abstract that they didn't form proper sentences.

"First of all," he said out loud then, as he sat back down on the bed and watched Loki. "It's about time to wake you up."

He opened the book and started reading, not in the softest of voices:

_"I would be there, but never did it feel like I was a part of something. Surely they spoke of their many plans while in my presence, but they didn't truly care whether I would be there on the night of their adventures, even when I always had the best ideas._

_I remember always being asked __first__ whether Thor was coming, before being acknowledged myself."_

Tony cleared his throat, gave Loki a look and he was about to go on when he realized the green eyes staring straight at him. It caused him enough of a shock that he shut the book with quite some impact and he was off the bed immediately.

"You're awake," he stated. Loki did not speak, but he was definitely looking Tony over in quite a malicious manner, yet his eyes remained green. Tony looked at the book and decided it was better to lay it aside for now and pretend that he had not read any of it, as clearly Loki wasn't so pleased with the fact.

"That's good," Tony said, looking at Loki, walking around the bed to pass some time. Now he had Loki's attention, he wasn't all too certain what to do with it. He wondered whether grabbing the book and continuing to read would make him trust Tony because he wouldn't react strangely to all Loki's truths, but on the other hand, by the glare he'd just received, he figured that staying away of that book for a while would do a better job.

"So, are you still able to talk, or not?" Tony asked then, as he was getting fed up with the silence. He wanted to get this thing sorted. He wanted Loki cured of this Tesseract thing and back to... well... his usual unpleasant self.

Loki just glared back at Tony, which was giving him the creeps and he didn't want it anymore. "No?" he asked. "You aren't able, or you don't want to?" he asked. Loki's eyes looked away from him for a short moment before returning. Tony laughed softly. "You don't want to? Good," he said, walking to the other side of the bed. "If you're not going to make a fuss about it, I might as well carry on reading in that book of yours," he said.

Loki stayed silent, until Tony actually held the book and started to open it. "Don't," he said, though as he spoke his voice was husky and dry. His eyes shot away from Tony, to spare himself the embarrassment of not even having a working voice.

"Ah..." Tony started, "so you can speak?" he asked teasingly, though this was humour of a bit of a low standard, must he say so himself. "Now don't be annoying and keep the talking up," Tony spoke. "What is the Tesseract to you?"

Loki turned his eyes to Tony, his mouth turning into a slight grin. "Why would I tell you that?" Loki asked, looking up at the engineer.

"Because I need to know," Tony spoke. "We want to help you," he said, "but we will need to know this before we can. You see, you are being powered by the Tesseract, physically, but mentally also. Your mind is possessed by it and that is not by your own free will and thus, we want to rid you from it," Tony spoke. It was quite the friendly deed, coming from an enemy, right? Loki had nothing to get annoyed about. In fact, he should be damn thankful.

"I do not know where your words come from. I am my own mind," Loki said, his eyes narrowed. His voice was still hoarse, but he continued to speak through it. "The Tesseract merely makes me stronger, it does not tell me what I need to be strong for, for I know exactly what I want."

"To rule, yes," Tony spoke, "but the Tesseract is powering your desire to make you want to rule all the nine realms. That is not what you desire, Loki. You want to be acknowledged for what you are good at, which you will be, would you do things that are... well, good," he spoke. "The way you go about it now will only cause people to disrespect you. And unless that is what you want, I can't imagine it would be, but with you one never knows, you would do good to listen to me."

Loki looked up at the man he had somehow grown a little comfortable with, though now despised. "You do not know anything," Loki replied. "You know nothing of what will befall me, or what the people of Midgard will do when they see what I am capable of," he spoke.

"But they never will know, because we're going to get this Tesseract stuff out of your body," Tony spoke, raising his eyebrows. "Then you'll be all nice and dandy and brand new again. You can go back to your own world and be a bit of a pesky God, but that's what you're supposed to be: a prankster, trickster... no murderer."

"You know not of what you speak," Loki sneered, but something in his voice said differently. Or, at the very least, seemed broken down. He was not merely trying to oppose Tony, but something told Tony the God actually wished Tony _did_know of what he spoke.

"Perhaps I don't, but then you should tell me," Tony replied. He'd sat the book down on the nightstand, though felt almost inclined to pick it up again. Just to edge Loki on to indeed speak, for if he didn't Tony could read everything in the book. Possibly, he could even get quite a good translation of all the strange languages. "But how am I to believe what you tell me, when you're not even yourself?" Tony pressed on, spoken in an afterthought. Loki seemed hesitant, but didn't he always?

"You wish to burden me with trivial questions," the God finally replied.

"No, I don't wish to burden you with anything," Tony replied and to his own amazement his voice didn't sound half as scolding as it should have done. In fact, he sounded quite sincere. Not necessarily a trait he wished to use often when in the presence of someone he ought to hate. He ought to... but didn't.

"Is this so?" Loki's green eyes had locked upon his once more, in their tightest of grips and Tony could not rip away from this newfound link between them. Surely, the God was playing games with him, for it could not possibly be that Loki showed true hope at the prospect of Tony's care.

"Yes, sure," Tony replied, trying to sound casual, but failing. What was happening to him? He was supposed to be an asshole. Not as much an asshole as Loki, but certainly not a pleasant guy, _especially_not to Loki, who should be the very reason for his assholeness. Oh, the world was going crazy.

"This is... new," Loki commented, though he showed a hint of amusement that caused Tony to grin. "But I will not fall for this trap."

"What?" Tony asked, the grin falling from his face immediately. "It's not a trap!"

"You would try to keep the act up, even when I saw right through it."

"There is no act!" Tony replied, feeling awfully hurt by the fact that Loki wouldn't believe Tony could actually want him better. It was the very reason he would not get better, for he thought no one would care. "You think this way is the only way you will get any attention. You think that if you got better... we'd all go back to hanging with Thor and ignoring you. Is that so?"

"I think little of it, but it is a thought that has occurred to me, certainly. It is just another truth and I do not care for it. Your company means-"

"Loki, no!"

"-little."

For the longest of moments their eyes stayed connected and it almost seemed like they were rooting for their truths. In fact, Tony suddenly felt horrified by the prospect of those threads _not_appearing, while Loki seemed certain they wouldn't. But how could it be that it meant so little to the God?

Time seemed to be passing slowly, but suddenly Loki's body arched and he let out a loud groan, as the strings were appearing, pulling his lips together and forcing his almost-scream to end. Tony watched as the bluish blood started to run down his face and felt horrible for not being able to stop Loki from telling the lie, but simultaneously he was glad to know it had been a lie.

Immediately Loki's hands moved up to the thread and he was pulling it, angrily. Tony shivered as he could see the thread tear through parts of his skin and immediately he rushed forward to pull his hands away.

"Just look at me," Tony said and soon enough the green eyes linked to his, their depth was once again astounding. "Don't worry. I know you can hardly breath through your nose, which is why you need to keep looking at me, okay?" Tony had moved closer, almost leaning over the God as he sat on the bed. Loki indeed kept looking at him, which Tony was glad about as it made this a whole lot easier.

The next thing that happened surprised Tony. Surely, the God was having trouble breathing and it probably wasn't so comfortable to know it might choke him to death if he wasn't careful, but Tony hadn't expected him to take measures of this... extremity.

Loki's hand moved up, though slightly shakily as he wasn't all too stable at all. In fact, it was a wonder he managed to move at all, after having suffered of some sort of muscle failure for the past few hours. It was a point Tony kept to himself, as it was of little importance at the moment anyway. The God's pale hand had taken hold of Tony's shoulder and the next he felt a slight tug that indicated he needed to move closer. The God's head moved back slightly as he did another attempt at breathing properly, but it hardly worked at all and the noise of discomfort pained Tony, but there was hardly anything he could do at the current moment, than await whatever it was Loki was doing.

The next moment his other hand moved up, but before he could touch Tony's forehead, which had been no doubtfully what he'd wanted to do, the engineer had sprung back from the touch.

"Woah, no creepy magic stuff, okay?" Tony said, having raised a finger towards Loki warningly, who's hands had fallen back down to the bed. Instantly he felt bad about having made a difficult task impossible, but he could not fall into more of Loki's traps. "I don't trust you one bit, okay? Let's just make that clear right now. If you want to be trusted, you shouldn't have made me get this book for the single purpose of escaping. That, and making the curse lift."

Loki looked at him and it was clear he had much to say, but no means of doing so. Simultaneously his breathing was getting faster and even more uneven as it had already been. If he was going to burst out into a panic now, he was screwed and Tony immediately lowered his finger and moved that bit closer again.

"I'm not sorry, but... I'm not sorry," he said.

Loki's fingers once again reached out for Tony's shoulder, who he pulled closer. This time he seemed to have even more difficulty, his arm trembling as his muscles were so weak. His other hand moved back up and touched Tony's forehead. He braced himself for what was going to come, his eyes not shutting, however, as he wanted to keep looking into Loki's, mainly to make sure they remained green.

Soon, he felt a rush go through him and he wanted to back away, but no longer could as pictures ran through his mind, pictures he did not know. They were pictures of Asgard, he knew that, pictures from Loki's mind. He looked better and could see that it was just a room, a room with Thor and a group of people around him, but no Loki. The message was clear, but not yet over.

The picture left his mind, but pictures of when Loki was in the Tower last ran through his mind, his own memories... It was his own sight, looking at Loki eating, looking at Loki reading, talking every now and then. Even a memory of them cracking a joke together. "You do like my company," Tony spoke, his eyes opening as the memories faded. It was proved. Loki didn't even have to nod, but he did anyway, the threads disappearing from his lips. Tony moved to the night stand and took some tissues, wiping the blue blood away from his mouth, despite how Loki tried to move away from him, a frown already on his face.

"Oh, shush, I'm trying to get you not to like my company. Now don't make it more difficult than it should be," he replied and to his own amazement Loki didn't respond with a sneer of himself, but with a smile instead. "That's new, too," he said.

"Don't get used to it," Loki replied, but there was little venom in his voice and the only bitterness that did shimmer through was not directed to Tony, but to the fact that he never smiled to begin with.

"I'll never get used to smiles," Tony replied. "But hopefully you can be the exception to that. Who knows? Crazier things have been said."

"Like what?" Loki asked, as if he truly thought nothing could beat this. It saddened Tony to think that the God truly believed his own happiness was the one goal he would never reach, but he figured he'd make a joke out of it anyway.

"You not liking my company, for one thing."

"Don't start that again," Loki replied, though there was a strange sparkle in his eyes.

"So, you seem to _actually_like my company a lot." Yep, the arrogance was definitely there and he felt no shame because of it. He grinned down at the God, that seemed to get more and more annoyed by the moment. "What? Cat got your tongue? Too afraid to lie about it?"

"I wish not to discuss this topic any further, for it is hardly of much interest."

"Ah, is that so? I'll make it more interesting then," Tony said, sniggering. "On a scale from one to ten; how much do you like my company?"

"That's childish."

"Alright, alright... would you cry if I died?"

"That's even-"

"It's just a question! Answer it!" Tony said. "Well, would you?"

"I don't think so," Loki replied, probably having wanted to say 'no', but too afraid the curse would seal his lips once more.

"Aw, seriously?"

"I don't cry," Loki replied, quite fiercely, but then quickly added; "over such matters." Clearly he'd realized it would've counted as a lie, otherwise.

"Okay, fine," Tony said, thinking of something else to ask the God instead. Surely there were trick-questions he could use to his advantage? "Would you miss me?"

Loki sighed, clearly frustrated at all the questions he'd ask. He'd say 'no', if it wasn't for that curse, which was exactly what amused Tony so. And, besides it being hilarious, it was quite handy too. At least this way he could come to some kind of understanding of Loki. "Possibly."

"That's just another way of saying 'yes'," Tony replied. "Isn't it?"

"...yes."

"I knew it!" Tony said, quite triumphantly.

They spent about three hours going on like this. Tony never bored of the game and Loki was slowly starting to accept that not being able to lie meant that he had no choice but to speak the truth and it had become some sort of relief. A good excuse to tell Tony what he truly felt. From time to time they'd fall silent and at quite a few moments Loki had been about to fall asleep. But the questions kept coming.

Tony learned that Loki, indeed, had always felt lonely. That he had never considered anyone a good friend and that he definitely wasn't planning on making the same mistake again, which basically meant he would never trust anyone again. Tony said that he wasn't too keen on making friends either, but he pretended loads of people were his friends, for the sake of having them do things for him. He also told Loki that he wasn't too keen on betrayal and quite sure he'd never betrayed anyone. Not without apologizing afterwards, anyway.

Loki's stories ranged from trivial memories to dark places that he never spoke enough about. Tony wanted to know what went on in his nightmares, but the God kept them to himself and would simply look away when the questions became too personal. Tony knew not to press it too much and would change the subject eventually. Still, he came to learn a lot about Loki.

So much even that he was unsure whether he could still think of Loki like the wrongdoer he was.

In fact...

He found himself lying down on the bed, looking at the sleeping face of Loki, after yet another tiring talk. The God was so very exhausted and Tony wondered whether he should worry about it. Yet, he wasn't worried at all. After everything they'd just shared things simply had to get better.

And at some point he fell asleep.


	9. Chapter 9) An appreciation

**Chapter Nine) An appreciation.**

The next morning when Loki awoke, he only felt a wave of sickness wash over him. His body was weakening slowly and he felt so hot, despite the fact that he was usually below the normal body temperature. He was attempting to push the covers off himself, while trying to see whether there was water, but it didn't work so well as his arms felt stiffer than ever. He let out a soft noise, trying to move towards the bedside table.

He remembered falling asleep, with Stark still there and, as nobody was watching anyway, he let himself smile. He did, however, find it a shame that Stark wasn't around now to give him some water. He let out another noise, having moved a little towards the bedside table. His head was spinning and he felt nauseous. His stomach also was starting to hurt, which didn't make anything any easier.

Soon, Tony entered the room, leaning against the door post, watching how Loki moved a little. "Need a hand?" Tony asked, stepping inside. He shut the door behind him and grabbed the glass from the night stand. Loki wanted to say 'no', but once again knew that it would be a lie. Ah, so they were carrying on this game? He stayed silent and Tony brought the glass to him, helping him up a little. Loki couldn't hold the glass and thus Tony needed to help him entirely. Loki didn't like it, but he _needed _to drink.

"How are you feeling?" Tony asked, lying Loki back down on the bed, pulling the covers over him, but Loki only pushed them away again. "Hot?" he asked. Loki nodded, looking up at Tony, slightly afraid of what that meant, but also wary of what remark Tony may make next. A hand was placed on his forehead, to which Tony let out a noise. "God, you're hot," he said, raising his eyebrows. Loki wasn't all too keen on the choice of words, but figured that he wouldn't go into that.

"What is it?" Loki asked as Tony had started to look him over.

"Nothing, just, didn't know Gods had temperatures," he said, giving a shrug. He touched Loki's forehead again. "I'll get you something to cool you down," he said. Loki looked up at him with a look that told him not to go, like that look he'd given him when he was still imprisoned by SHIELD. Right now, feeling so sick, he wanted to be anything but alone, despite the fact that he hated that it was so. "You want me to stay?" Tony asked. Again, a question he'd have to answer and couldn't lie to and thus, he gave a little nod, rolling his eyes a little to indicate to Stark that he didn't like the continuity of their games.

"What is the situation?" Thor's voice sounded after the sound of an opening door. Thor took a few steps inside, moving towards Loki. "How are you feeling, brother?" he asked. Loki's eyes turned away.

"Thor, you should stop calling him brother," Tony then spoke, confused by his own words. "Just, do it in your head and call him brother to us, but it looks like he's sick of hearing it. Talking about sick. Loki has the flu, it seems," Tony said.

"The flu?" Loki and Thor both spoke, almost simultaneously, not knowing what it was.

"Yes, it's a sickness you get sometimes. You'll puke a lot, want to cut your stomach out because it hurts so much, you'll get all stuffed and 'ugh', run down... Basically; you'll feel like shit for a couple of days," Tony said. "But, don't worry or anything, you won't die- Actually..." Tony looked at Loki. "Damn, your body is pretty weak at the moment actually- _Banner!" _he shouted. "He'll make sure you won't die."

Loki and Thor both looked at Tony in a slight shock, unaware of how serious they were supposed to take his words. "I said he wouldn't die. I just need a second opinion on that," Tony said, raising his hands a little as if it wasn't anything important.

Bruce entered the room, a slightly annoyed look on his face. "What is it, _Stark_?" he asked, wondering why they were suddenly back to a last-name basis.

"Loki's got the flu and I want you to make sure he's strong enough and will pull through," Tony said. At his choice of words Loki let out something akin to a growl and, for some strange reason, it sent Tony's stomach to do things it really shouldn't. But he ignored it.

"You think I can check that?" Bruce asked, letting out a soft laugh. "Stark, he hasn't got any blood, I can't do a test."

Tony chuckled softly, then looked the two Gods over. Thor looked worried, while Loki only laughed softly at their stupidity, but mostly he was occupied with keeping the contents of his stomach down.

"Okay, I'll do my best, but just... bare with me," he said, stepping towards Loki.

"Don't do anything silly, Loki. He's just checking to see you can live through this. Which is _a good thing _and not something you kill people over. Now, Thor, come, I'm going to show you how to make soup," Tony said, as that seemed to be the best kind of food for Loki to have at this moment. And so they left Bruce behind with Loki. However, Jarvis would keep a good eye on them.

Bruce was checking Loki's chest after having picked up some equipment and he felt quite the doctor from back when he was in India helping all the sick children out. Since then he hadn't done anything, except things as simple as checking for a mere wheeze in someone's lungs. "It seems you'll be fine. Just keep eating and taking aspirins if you're in pain and drink lots. That's all I can say," Bruce said. Loki hadn't said a word and had just let Bruce do this, despite the fact that it made him feel weak. But he _was _weak. Physically he could hardly do anything. "It will probably last a couple of days, but the worst will go by today and tomorrow, hopefully, if you even have antibodies..." he said. "On that note, I'm going to make an extraction."

He took out an injection needle that he would normally take blood with, but now, of course, would take this 'blue liquid' with. "Hold still," he said, moving the needle towards Loki.

"No," Loki then spoke. "Don't you dare take it away from me. Get away, you filthy monster," Loki sneered, his eyes narrowed on the man before him. "This is mine and mine only, how dare you steal it?" Loki carried on.

Bruce felt his heartbeat increase, but he had to stay calm. For the sake of not turning into... the other guy. "It's for research. I need to know what exactly has happened," he said. "I won't do anything with it that you don't want. Trust me," Bruce spoke, his eyebrows raising.

Loki was starting to confide in Stark, but in Banner too? No, he couldn't get so soft. Not when this guy could turn into come kind of monster and kill him with a single fist in the state he was in now. Although, he couldn't stop thinking about that moment they shared. Certainly, it was a mistake he'd made that he, at some point, would come to regret deeply. "I don't believe you," Loki spoke and it was genuine. How could he not contact SHIELD about this? Loki wanted nothing to do with that group of torturers and thus he didn't trust Banner.

"Then tell me how I can make you trust me. I'm a nice guy, Loki, quite a good guy too," Bruce said, usually not so open about his 'qualities'. Not only was he modest, but very insecure about himself ever since the other guy started coming. But he felt it was about time to come to terms with it and start seeing the truth; that he was always out to do good. His intentions, at the very least, were always righteous.

It was too late, though, as Tony already came in with Thor, steaming hot soup on a tray with what seemed to be bread with butter, or something in that region. Loki wasn't going to show any trust towards Banner now that his brother was here.

"And?" Tony asked. Bruce was about to put his equipment away when tony noticed the needle. "What's this?" he asked, looking down at the empty tube.

"He won't let me-"

"Leave that over to me. Leave this here. Is he okay?" he asked, looking from Loki to Bruce. "For now, at least?" Bruce nodded. "Good. Now tuck in, we have soup."

Loki was forced to sit up and was staring at the soup with something akin to horror in his eyes, probably at the prospect of eating. Tony knew exactly how that felt, but knew too that he was going to need all the energy he could get. It wasn't so difficult to figure out what was happening to the God's body, after all. It was like a flu, but it wasn't the actual flu. No, this was Loki's silent resistance. It was quite possible the God didn't know it himself, but despite his love for the Tesseract, he was fighting it physically.

"Loki, eat," Tony said, while otherwise not actually giving him much attention. He knew that it would be counterproductive to stare at him, when the very thing that caused Loki difficulty was eating with other's there. He'd noticed it from the first time they'd sat together for a meal.

After another five minutes Loki finally seemed to be content with the fact that everyone was talking to each other, rather than to him and he slowly began to eat. Tony noticed it, but other than a slight smile he showed nothing in response to it. He didn't even turn to look at Loki and continued to listen to Thor's rant about the strange kitchen supplies these 'mortals' used. Tony figured that it was a good thing Thor was so overly enthusiastic about it, as it made up for Loki's everlasting sulk.

"How is it possible you two grew up in the same household?" he asked after a few moments. Loki was eating slowly and the look that crosses his eyes every time Thor spoke of something that Loki considered 'too pathetic' he would look more and more annoyed, to the point where Tony simply couldn't stop himself from commenting on it. He soon realized it had been a bad move, however. Loki's sneer was dangerous to say the least and Thor seemed almost hurt, which wasn't exactly what he'd been rooting for. "Oh never mind me, just carry on," he said, trying to wave the topic away, but it was impossible.

Loki let the spoon fall from his fingers and it made an awful noise as it hit the side of the bowl and for some strange reason Thor and Loki were looking at each other intensely. "Hello, not want to ruin this party or anything, but... it's not much of a party," Tony tried, as if they hadn't realized this themselves.

"Loki..." Thor spoke after a moment, but it seemed he would get no response, as Loki's eyes had gone strangely vague, but not blue. The latter was certainly a good thing. The former no one could be certain about. "Loki, don't do this to yourself," Thor spoke after a moment and Tony wondered whether Thor had a better idea of what was going on with the God than the rest of them did. Well, one would certainly hope so as they'd spent a... well... multiple lifetimes together.

Thor took a step towards Loki, but Loki seemed only to flinch at that. Thor paused, then carried on, kneeling on the bed and moving slightly towards Loki. "Do not fear me, brother," he whispered, "not for the bad memories I may bring you, nor for the good," he spoke, pressing his forehead to Loki's. "Trust in me, for I will not pain you, will you remain calm," he whispered, his hand moving to brush Loki's hair out of his face.

Both Tony and Bruce just watched, unsure of what was going on, of what Thor was doing and why Loki remained so silent. "Loki, my love in you I feel strongly, as do I confide in you my every secret, as I always have done, my brother," he whispered, his nose pressing to Loki's slightly sore one. Loki let out a soft noise, but his hands remained on the tray, holding the soup in place. His head moved to the side, moving away from Thor. "I do not expect anything of you, brother, for you have my respect and pride regardless. But you are capable of losing it, likewise to how I lost it from father. But not in my heart, Loki, for in my heart you will remain the brother I introduced the world to. You will remain the one that is wittier and faster at thinking," he let out a soft laugh, never having spoken such words to Loki while he was not angry. "You do not have to achieve... not for me, Loki, only for yourself."

Loki's teeth were digging into his bottom lip hard, his teeth going to leave marks and Tony saw it. He wasn't going to mention it, when he saw that Loki was biting so hard that his top lip was raising a little in pain and his jaw was starting to tremble. He didn't need to tell Thor, though, as he pressed a kiss to his brother's forehead, then moved back from him, getting off the bed and, to spare Loki the truth that he had not turned to anger, left the room.

"I think I better go too," Bruce said, leaving Tony and Loki alone again. Tony let out a sigh. Why was he burdened with the task of babysitting a God? It did sound like something he'd eventually have to experience in his life, so he decided not to make a big deal out of it. He turned to shut the door again and let himself flop onto the bed, sitting down on the other side of the bed from Loki, but moving to scoot across so he sat beside Loki.

"Can you stomach it?" Loki's eyes tore away from his bowl and moved to Tony.

"Yes," he replied, moving to take the spoon, but putting it down again as Tony would be watching him.

"Okay, I won't watch you eat!" he said, pressing a hand over his eyes. Not only did he need to babysit, but it was _actually _a baby he was babysitting!

"But you know I am," Loki then said. Tony let out a groan, moving his hand from his eyes and turning towards Loki.

"You're complicated," he spoke, taking the spoon and getting soup onto it, moving it to Loki's mouth, which stayed tightly shut, the marks in his lower lip visible, where his teeth had dug into his skin. "Come on..."

"I'm not playing your silly game," Loki said, his eyes turning to Stark's in annoyance.

"Well, neither am I, so eat, or you'll be alone for the rest of the day! And don't take that seriously, because I... err... actually had fun last night," Tony said. Loki just nodded in acknowledgement, then let out a sigh, finally having some of his soup in Tony's presence. "Good."

He didn't watch Loki eat, but he could see it in the corner of his eyes, as did he see the bowl emptying. He'd eaten everything on the plate. "Are you full?" he asked Loki, who nodded in response, the look on his face saying that he felt like he was going to blow, even though the look was just so very subtle. Tony moved the tray and put it down on the nightstand. He helped Loki lie down and lied down beside him, letting out a soft sigh. "Do you feel tired?" he asked, to which Loki replied with a nod. "Then I will let you sleep," he said, but Loki shook his eyes, his green eyes connecting to Tony's brown ones. "You can't?" he asked, to which Loki shook his head. Wow, he really was getting good at reading Loki recently! Having him as a housemate really did pay off, then! Although he did wonder what use he could make of understanding a God that meant only trouble.

He saw how Loki's eyes shut and he smiled a little in response to the sight. Loki was so vulnerable and it showed the trust he had in Tony, as he shut his eyes anyway. It showed also how tired Loki truly was... What could he do to send Loki to sleep? He didn't need to seek for the answer, it was already there and he was already doing it.

His fingers moved to Loki's hairline, gently brushing the hair back. Loki's eyes opened for a short moment, but as Tony nodded, reassuring him that it was okay, Loki's eyes shut again. Tony slowly moved a little closer, to caress his hairline a little better. He had no idea what he was doing, but it was so automatic that he didn't have to think about it...

His fingers moved back through Loki's hair, brushing all the loose strands back. Loki's lips parted as he left out a soft sigh, a content sigh. He'd never seen Loki let out one of those... "Well, that's new," Tony said, his voice just soft. Loki's head turned towards him and his eyes opened, a soft questioning sound leaving him. "Nothing, just go to sleep," he said, again giving him the same nod. It felt like he was stroking Loki's hair for hours before he actually felt Loki's body relax fully and fall asleep, but just before he did, Tony found himself edging that little bit closer, his lips suddenly pressing to Loki's forehead, just like Thor's had done.

This caused Loki's hand to move up, grasp hold of Tony's shirt, and fall asleep, deeply asleep. Tony stayed. How could he move back when obviously that meant waking up the God who'd just taken hold of his shirt. It was, of course, only for this reason that he stayed, because it was common knowledge that he hated the God and therefore liked it when he slept, so he wouldn't have to deal with him. Yes, these were the reasons he stayed. Exactly this.


	10. Chapter 10) Embarrassing moments and

**A/N: Thank you all so much for the reviews, the follows, the favourites. Thank you for reading and I hope you're enjoying it so far!**

**Chapter ten) Embarrassing moments and sick times.**

Tony did not fall asleep, although he knew that to Loki having Tony awake while he slept was only making it worse. To Tony, however, it was already bad enough that he _had_ slept in the same bed the God had. Was he really turning _so _soft? He could hardly believe it himself.

This time he spent mostly studying the God's features and wondering what he dreamt of and occasionally soothing him whenever a frown appeared on the God's brow. It happened often... every ten minutes at the least. He wondered what troubled him so, apart from the obvious: being sick. He wondered what the exact thoughts were that tormented Loki so and wondered too if they would ever go. Had it been too long? Had all these years of torment caused for Loki to be forever broken or was there always hope? He wished to believe in the latter, but couldn't deny the pessimism he felt at such things. How could it possibly be so that every wound could be mended? Did not many scar and would that scar not be as visible as the wound itself? No time for metaphors like this.

A moment later a twitch went through Loki's body and the next his body was arching. He let out a pained noise and a moment later he snapped awake, kicking the covers away quite violently.

"Woah," Tony said, not having expected that to happen. Loki's eyes shot to look at his and he was glad to see they were still green. Loki was breathing heavily, though and seemed to be in quite a bit of pain. "Loki, calm down," he said, wanting to move his hand towards the God to brush his hair out of his face, but Loki flinched back and a moment later was trying to get up. He seemed incredibly disorientated, however. "What's wrong?" Tony asked, getting up as well and stepping around the bed to Loki, but making sure not to get too close as he knew it wouldn't be allowed.

A moment later Loki muttered something inaudibly, possibly in a tongue Tony did not speak. He watched Loki's frown increase and his eyes seemed saddened and pained. He seemed awfully pale, lips almost as white as the rest of his skin, yet around his eyes the skin was red. He looked around himself, focusing on nothing in particular and seemingly seeing things that weren't there. Great.

"Loki, you should lie down again," Tony spoke, but Loki did not seem to hear him. Instead he swayed on his feet, before he let out a series of groans and whimpers, while stepping forward. When he collapsed Tony had wanted to catch him, but Loki violently pushed back from him. "What's going on?"

"Leave me!" Loki shouted suddenly. "'s enough!"

"What's enough?" Tony asked. Great, was he truly hallucinating? If so, _why_? His eyes were still their usual green, so it probably wasn't the Tesseracts doing. Not directly in any way.

Loki fell down to the ground entirely and Tony was immediately by his side, moving a hand to touch the God's forehead. He immediately pulled his hand back as he felt the temperature and not a moment later, right when Loki let out the most mortifying scream, the door opened and an incredibly worried Thor appeared.

The scream had sent shivers up Tony's back. Never had he heard the God make a noise like that... He'd not let out a single scream while at SHIELD, but this pain seemed to be so overpowering that it took away his capability to keep from screaming out. "He's burning," Tony said, as Thor was picking Loki up from the ground.

"Loki, it will be okay, my brother," Thor said and for a moment Tony thought about reminding Thor how he wasn't supposed to call Loki that, but it wasn't like Loki was paying all too much attention to it. Loki hung limply in Thor's arms, an expression of pure terror on his face, though his eyes weren't seeing.

"Let it stop! I- I beg of you!" Loki's voice was breaking, along with his dignity and it wasn't something Tony had ever wanted to witness. Thor was stepping towards the door, Tony in his wake, hoping that Thor had some kind of solution.

"Loki!" Thor spoke firmly, almost angrily and Tony realized the God's eyes had gone strangely unseeing, his breathing almost absent entirely, while his entire body seemed to tremble. "You will be fine."

Tony found himself having followed them into the bathroom and the next moment Thor was laying Loki down in the bathtub. "Drowning him won't help," Tony said, feeling the lack of stupid remarks truly needed fixing. Thor ignored the comment, but did turn towards him.

"Make this device spew water," he ordered and Tony stepped forward to turn on the tap. If the situation was anything else than this, he would have laughed at Thor's remark, but right now he was too busy with indeed, turning the tap on while Loki was freaking out in the bath. His eyes were looking everywhere, but focussing on nothing that was truly here. The water was cold, which made Loki flinch and he tried to move away, trying to climb out of the bath, but Thor leaned over and caressed his forehead. "Loki, you need to calm yourself," he spoke.

"I - I can't d-do anymore!" Loki shouted, his entire body trembling severely. He let out another scream suddenly, which stung, again. Why was Loki suddenly shouting and screaming, pleading like this. "St - top!" he screamed, his body arching once more, withering in pain.

"What is happening...?" Tony asked, letting the bath fill with lukewarm to quite cool water, hoping this would cool him down.

"He's... panicking, he's hallucinating, as if he's thinking back at things," Thor spoke, frowning a little, trying to calm Loki down. Tony moved closer, moving his hand into the water, cupping water in his palm, then gently letting it run over Loki's face. Loki froze for a moment, let out a soft noise and a shudder, then stilled suddenly. Both Thor and Tony waited for a second, but Loki's back again arched and he carried on moving about, withering in pain. Thor then started to do what Tony had, wetting Loki's hair, getting the sweat and hotness off his skin. Loki was still moving about, but slowly he was starting to relax, his body giving in to the cold water cooling him. Eventually, even Loki's eyes shut, which Thor let water run over, the skin around Loki's eyes being very red. Tony watched, despite the fact that he maybe should leave. It was quite... nice to see how gently Thor was treating Loki. It showed how much he cared for his brother, what they all already knew, but this was... new. This care, this affection.

Loki was starting to tremble again a little, but they both knew that that was from the cold water and not from his dreams. Thor continued to keep his face cool, especially his forehead and eventually, a frown formed on Loki's face and his eyes blinked, slowly opening to look around. They first rested on Thor, then on Tony. He was exhausted and couldn't even speak. He didn't know what to say, even if he could say anything.

"It's okay, you'll be fine," Thor said. "Your body is fighting, you will be tired and feel like this, it is normal," he spoke and Tony found it rather entertaining to hear the God speak in such a 'human' manner, speaking about the way humans and their illnesses worked. Loki would panic, would he have the energy. Thor shouldn't come so close and touch him so much, let alone see him like this... nor should Stark. But he couldn't tell them to go, he was too tired and he felt so sick, so ill...

"Are you in pain?" Tony then asked, to which Loki nodded a little. They had to go through all of his body parts to figure out what was hurting exactly. His head, his stomach, his shoulders and neck, his eyes, his knees were aching. And so, Tony left for a moment and returned with Advil and a big glass of water. "Help him drink this," he said, handing Thor the glass. But before Thor could take the glass Loki did that strange thing again where he looked at Tony, unspoken words clearly on his lips. And a strange, almost embarrassed, look in his eyes. Tony let out a sigh, clearly not entertained by what Loki was silently asking.

Thor stepped back and said nothing of the disappointment he would no doubtfully feel as once again Loki preferred another's closeness to his brother's. Tony stepped forward and put the glass down on the side of the bath, so he could help Loki sit up. The God's skin was freezing, yet Loki didn't seem to feel it. "Okay, different plan," Tony said, turning to Thor once more. "Take him back to the room." And a moment later Loki was in Thor's arms again, though he was not amused in the slightest.

"Don't you dare! I'm capable to walk myself!" But no matter the comments Loki made, Thor did not let go of him. Though, Tony had the odd feeling that Thor was not going to tolerate Loki's snide responses much longer. "You should not dare come near me, Thor, for I am your worst mistake."

And right then, before entering Loki's bedroom, Thor hurled Loki across the hallway.

"Err... Thor..." Tony said, holding a few towels which he was going to lay on the bed, so Loki wouldn't wet the covers. He had also wondered what they were going to do with the God's clothes, as it certainly wouldn't be comfortable to keep them on now they were drenched. "Thor, really... that won't help him."

Loki was trying to get up onto his knees to stand up again, but having been flung for a good three metres and having hit his head surely didn't help his fever.

"Loki," Thor spoke, his voice firm as he stepped towards the God that suddenly, truly seemed nothing but a small boy, in comparison with Thor's greatness. "I have respected all your comments and all your condemnations. I've taken every single word, be it truth or lie, and have considered them. I have offered you many apologies that you have not accepted. I've asked for a second chance that you will not grant me, no matter the chances I've granted you." Thor had come to a halt before Loki's trembling form, who was still on his knees, unable to muster the strength to get up.

"And now you are out to prove me right?" Loki sneered vilely, eyes fierce with a burning hatred that radiated from his every move.

"Do not twist my words, Loki!" Thor replied angrily. "I merely state what is true."

"So do I," Loki spat, "for I can't tell lies."

"No, but your accusations are but _your_truth and they are not composed of wisdom."

"Maybe not, but certainly they come from experience." Loki once again tried to get to his feet, but when he actually started to manage it Thor's hand moved to Loki's shoulder to stop him, pushing him back down onto his hands and knees. "Once again you are incapable of understanding and how _dare_ you oppose me like this? I am _not_yours to command."

"You are," Thor replied harshly. "And you will hear me now." Loki didn't look up at Thor, which caused Thor to grab hold of his wet hair and yank his head back, forcing the God of mischief to lock eyes with him. "It was but my mercy that saved you from father's punishment. He would have let you suffer to death, to balance what you had done and to reassure those that you had wronged their pain was avenged. It was _I_who spared you."

"And I am so very grateful," Loki spoke, venom in his voice and sarcasm so thick that it caused Tony's heart to skip a beat.

"You should be."

"Err... Thor... he _is_," Tony interrupted, although he felt weird for doing so. "The thread and all that..." And indeed, the lie was not sealed, for it wasn't a lie at all. For a moment it was silent, Loki trembling on the ground, attempting to stay steadied, while Thor looked down at him.

"You never show me this gratitude," Thor said. "For your pride forbids it."

"No, it is not my pride," Loki replied, sneer still in place. "It is the knowledge that you will use my every weakness against me eventually, that keeps me from speaking."

"Showing gratitude is not weakness," Thor replied, but Loki only laughed. "And I would not hold anything against you." At that Loki laughed even louder, though any sign of true happiness was void entirely.

"You have me on my knees, _brother_," Loki replied. "On my knees!"

And Tony had to admit the God had a point there. Thor obviously thought the same as he stayed silent, they all did. "Right, I think all had been said, now let's go to the bedroom. No throwing Loki around, okay?" he asked, looking at Thor, now moving through to the bedroom, lying the towels down. Thor lied Loki down on the bed, who seemed more annoyed than ever now that he needed to be carried.

"_Leave!_" Loki shouted at Thor, his eyes fixed on his brother's blue ones, fierce, vicious. Thor just sighed and left, which left Loki and Tony in this room once again. Tony would question Loki's trust in him, were he in a better mood. "You should change, that can't possibly be comfortable," Tony laughed softly, stepping towards the cupboard to get some new clothes out for him. He'd given Loki a pile of some old clothes for him to wear and since Loki was at SHIELD he hadn't had any time to make a difference in it.

"I don't care," Loki replied, with quite a sneer. Tony sighed and sat down on the bed, looking at the God.

"You do realize I don't actually approve of what Thor just did, which basically means I'm on your side. If I were - you know - the kind to pick anyone's side, but my own." Loki looked at him for a moment, but turned his gaze away then.

"This is just a game you play to win my trust, is it not?"

"No, it isn't," Tony replied, trying to make it sound like he had indeed not meant that to be his intention at all. "What would the point of that be? I don't actually care about you that much and you don't propose any sort of danger, which means I have absolutely no reason, at all, to win your trust. If I were bored and had some time on my hands, then sure, but... I don't do 'free time'."

Loki didn't look at him and seemed to be considering what Tony had said, but instead of coming up with a decent reply, he merely disappeared into trails of thoughts. Tony watched him for the longest of moments, until he figured he should get back to the task he'd initially announced.

It was awkward to say the least, to step towards Loki with the intention of taking his pants off in his mind. And with that, probably also his underwear. He cleared his throat as he leaned over and started at Loki's pants. "What do you think you're even doing?! Stop that!" he shouted, his hands moving down to Tony's to push his hands away.

"Well, you're not wearing anything up there, I might as well see the rest," his stomach churned a little, which it shouldn't, before he carried on.

"Don't disrespect me!" Loki shouted, really not wanting this.

"I am helping you. Leaving you in soaking wet clothes will make you even sicker. Do you want that? No? Can you do this yourself? Probably not. Now shut your mouth, Loki and let me do what I need to do," he spoke, shoving Loki's hands away, upwards, which probably would hurt quite a bit. "Just remember I don't want to do this either," he said, pulling Loki's trousers off and dropping the soaking material onto the ground.

He dried Loki's legs off, which Loki surely wasn't happy with in the slightest and Tony found it more than a little awkward. He was touching the God way too much for his own liking and it was making his stomach churn only more and more. No... really, this had to stop, this strangeness.

He was a little unsure what to do with Loki's underwear, which was wet enough for him to be able to see pretty much all there was too see anyway, but he felt too awkward to do so. He scratched his face for a moment, seeing how Loki was looking the other way with his slightly reddened cheeks. He then decided to just carry on. It was nothing bad, or strange, just... plain awkward.

He moved his hands to Loki's underwear, starting to pull them down. "No," Loki sneered, moving his hands down again, looking up at Tony, who leaned down a little. "You can't do this," he spoke. Oh? So this was a battle?

"Loki, don't make this more difficult," Tony said, looking down at him. Loki's grip on Tony's wrists was quite tight and he wasn't sure how soon he'd resume trying to get his underwear off. Again, he tried, but Loki struggled, their eyes locked on one another. Loki's look was intense to say the least, which made Tony only more angry, causing him to pull down Loki's underwear. Loki couldn't stop it and as Tony moved back, his shoulder was grabbed and he was pulled towards Loki's face, his face being held so he couldn't look down.

"Don't you have any dignity?" Loki sneered, holding Tony quite close. Tony reached for the towel and dried Loki's inner thighs, not all too sure what he was going to do with the rest. Leave it, probably. "Don't," he spoke, not wanting to be touched there, at all. Loki sneered a little and he could see the God's cheeks redden in shame. Tony's heart started to race, his stomach doing that stupid thing again. This suddenly felt so... right. Loki's hand on his face, their eyes connected intensely and their stomachs doing strange things.

They were frozen like this, entirely frozen, not moving, not doing anything, but breathing a little quickly and staring at one another. Loki then let out a noise, to which his face then turned away, breaking the contact. Tony let go of the towel and grabbed Loki's face, turning it back to look at his. His heart skipped. Loki's eyes were so... And then he found himself doing one of the strangest things.

He moved down, not being able to bare ignoring the hungriness and the churning in his stomach that only got worse the closer he leaned down to Loki. His eyes closed as he was near enough and within only a fraction of a second, Tony's lips pressed to Loki's. That building of trust, that churning of Tony's stomach and that strange satisfaction in each other's company... it lead to this. Tony just let their lips press together for a short while, feeling Loki tense, but not move away and to his surprise, Loki's eyes were shut...

Then very slowly, he let his head tilt a little, pressing down slightly firmer to Loki's lips, sighing through his nose as Loki had done the same. His lips parted, while Loki's stayed shut, his fingertips pressing into the side of Tony's face, pressing against his jaw, a slight tremble running through the God. But Tony did not cease his affection, his hand sliding down to Loki's neck, his fingertips running into Loki's long hair, pulling him up closer into the kiss, his stomach going so crazy he doubted whether he truly liked it. Moans threatened to erupt because of the feeling and he really didn't want to embarrass himself that much, still, it made his kisses harder, which caused Loki to sigh a little louder and let a few, almost silent, noises out.

What they were doing they both probably didn't know. But there was no time to think about it, it simply happened. Tony vaguely wondered how much experience Loki had dug up over the course of his lifetime, which happened to be quite a long one. It caused him to snigger, although he knew he shouldn't. What? He couldn't be interested in such things? If anything it would surely be entertaining to find out how a God went about these things.

"What is it, Stark?" Loki sneered a moment after pulling away. Cold hands had moved to his shoulders and he was being nudged back, but he didn't listen. "If this is all but a mere joke for your petty entertainment, then I-"

"It's not, Loki, now shut up," Tony replied snappily, not having wanted to admit that it wasn't at all.

"How dare you tell me to-"

"Shut. Up." And a moment later their lips were pressed together again, quite firmly and sloppily. Tony forced Loki into a far more passionate kiss than the one they'd shared before and soon Loki's hand was squeezing Tony's shoulder, trembles rushing through the God's body and Tony could feel every single one of them. He went on and on, until suddenly pulling back. He opened his eyes to look down at Loki's closed ones, though it lasted for a mere second. Loki looked up at him, clearly shocked at the way he'd suddenly pulled back. "So, are we really still on last name basis, or will you finally call me Tony?" he asked, but Loki disregarded the question. His hand moved away from Tony's shoulder and soon his gaze moved away too.

"I would inquire you to take your leave, but I'm certain you will not listen."

"The fact remains that you're naked and that you probably don't want anyone to walk in on you like this, so I guess that answers your question. You won't be able to do much good and I am certainly willing to help. Not because I like helping you, or anything, but because I like the way you blush."

"Do you truly believe you manage to excite me in any way?" the God asked fiercely. Ah, a clever way to escape the curse.

"Yeah. Do I?" Tony dared. Loki merely sneered and looked away once more. "That's a yes then." Loki's eyes locked with his again.

"I do not wish for my lips to be sealed once more, Stark," he replied. "But confirming that you excite me, is far from specific enough to base any of your conclusions on."

"Wasn't making any. Yet." And yes, that clearly stated that he was sure he'd have more to base conclusions on in a later stadium. However, now was the time to ensure things didn't get more awkward than they had to be.

He sat down on the edge of the bed and leaned over Loki. "I guess I should get you dressed then before anyone, like your brother, would come in, hm?" he asked, grabbing the underwear he was going to put on Loki, while still looking into Loki's eyes.

"Have some dignity and let me have some privacy," Loki sneered, which caused Tony to chuckle.

"Ashamed of your manhood?" he asked, his eyes shut as he moved down to Loki's feet, pulling the underwear up his legs. "I'm not looking," he said, his eyes then opening as he got to Loki and looked into his again. "There, done, no shame," he said, his eyes then going down to Loki's clothed crotch. "Now, what's there to be ashamed about?" he asked, a small grin forming on his face.

"I told you to have dignity, you stupi-"

"Hey, I'm a genius, _silver tongue_, now use that damn thing for the right words," he spoke, looking him over slowly. His body was... sublime. But he wouldn't say that aloud. Hey, he was a God, what could be expected?

"Then I'll use it to tell you to go away and leave me be," Loki said, his voice a sneer, but his face clearly exhausted, very exhausted. After his struggle before and the way Thor had thrown him onto the floor, Tony was surprised he wasn't yet sleeping.

"But you've got the flu, you need to keep hydrated and warm, but not too warm," he said, pulling pyjama pants on Loki, then covering him with the covers. He helped Loki sit up, which Loki seemed annoyed with. Tony laughed softly and brought the glass to Loki's lips, who drank up, seemingly thirsty.

"Look, Loki," Tony then started. "I know you feel like you don't belong here, in this state, letting me help you out, but you should be glad that someone is here to do it for you," he spoke, still keeping Loki up. "I can't say I enjoy it but at least I'm not alone in this Tower," he said, running his fingers over Loki's hairline then softly.

"You have Thor and Banner," he spoke, a coldness in Loki's eyes still.

"Well, yes, I enjoy their company too, of course. But, I liked it when you were here, despite the arguments... I'm quite okay with you being here," he said, looking Loki over. Yes, he was okay with it. It didn't bother him all too much.

He lied Loki down then and made sure he was comfortable, letting him sleep. He stayed for a short while, but knew he had a few other things to do and thus left, letting Jarvis look out for him while he was away. Both he, Thor and Banner sat at one of the tables, reading, researching. "It would help to have Asgardian sorcerers amongst us. They might be able to discover Loki's problem," he spoke, to which Tony shrugged.

"Sorcerers... scientists... yeah, all the same," he said. "Magic is just science people don't understand, right?" Tony added. "We're scientists out here to get this magic of your world clarified. The more scientists the better of course, but for now the two of us will do. I don't want those inhumane bastards from SHIELD messing with my stuff."

Tony carried on for just a second, then looked up at Thor, who had had the same kind of revelation. They looked at each other for the longest of moments. "What am I missing here?" Banner asked, looking from Tony to Thor.

"No... we can't do this, not with Loki here, no that'd be too dangerous," Tony said.

"They can work downstairs," Thor replied, his eyebrows raising. "Loki doesn't need to know that they're there," Thor spoke, suddenly hopeful.

"Have you seen her in the meantime?" Tony asked. Thor nodded, though it inclined that they had only met shortly. "Just don't get all lovey around my house please, I can't have that," he said, letting out a sigh.

"You're getting Jane Foster and Eric Sel-"

"Yes," Thor replied, got up from his chair and headed down the hall.

"Just because I didn't say no, doesn't mean I'm saying yes," Tony said, walking down the hall to Thor. "This won't go unnoticed to Loki, you do know that right?"

"There's hardly anything he can do about it now, is there?" Thor asked.

"And when he's better? He can blow them to pieces. Sounds lovely, but ehh... I've just got this building fixed, okay? I don't want holes everywhere," he said.

"Tony, this is about my brother's well being. I want him to get well as soon as possible and like you said, the more scientists, the easier it will get. Besides, she's good," Thor spoke.

Tony sighed softly, shaking his head, rolling his eyes then just moving his hands before him, pointing at the elevator. "Go, then, just go, get them, don't let them on this floor... and _you _cook for them, I've got enough on my hands here."


	11. Chapter 11) Jumpstart

**A/N: Thank you all for still reading this story! I hope you still enjoy it. Now, we've got quite an exciting chapter for you here! Enjoy, you lovely people.**

**Chapter eleven) Jumpstart**

Loki didn't seem to be getting better, which evidently meant he was losing strength to the sickness. Yet, it was unclear what it would mean for him to succumb entirely. Would the Tesseract take him over? Or would he die? His body had started to fight the Tesseract's power for the sole purpose of getting it out of his body and now the Tesseract was opposing him, rather than working together. It was therefore unlikely that much of Loki could survive should the Tesseract win. It was not a good foresight, but there was still hope of course. Loki might prevail, eventually.

"How are you feeling?" Tony asked, while he sat on the edge of Loki's bed. Loki was as white as a sheet, even his lips had lost their colour entirely. He barely managed to open his eyes and when he did they were unclear.

"I've... been worse," he replied and Tony knew that to be true. But being worse in an immortal body wasn't so bad. Loki knew this, so Tony didn't speak his mind. It was senseless to worry him even more.

"You'll pull through this," Tony told him. "You'll have to, so..." He shrugged, almost as if it didn't interest him so much at all, when it did. Loki managed a somewhat smile, that quickly faded to nothing as his eyes closed once more and he let out a tiresome sigh. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

"I don't know..." the God whispered in reply. "I don't want to go on."

It was silent for quite a moment after Loki had spoken those words, as Tony had a hard time digesting those words and coming to understand them. Loki had meant them, obviously, for his lips weren't sealed and for the moment Tony couldn't even give the God a good reason to continue...

"Loki," he then said, though as he looked at Loki's face once more he realized a significant change. Not only had the slight frown disappeared and had his usually clenched jaws lost their tenseness, but his breathing... "Loki!" he shouted then, getting up from the bed with a start, before leaning over the God, hand moving to the back of Loki's neck to shake him through. "Loki, don't you fucking dare!" he shouted loudly.

A moment later the door was slammed open and inside stepped Thor, probably alerted by Tony's screams. He rushed over to the bed and Tony moved back for Thor to see, though he was in such a panic that he couldn't just stand there. "Heart- is his heart-?" he tried to speak, but the adrenaline rush had caused his speech to falter to null.

"His heart is still beating. Get everyone in here, we need everyone and everything that can help," Thor spoke, turning towards Tony. "Get everybody, and a knife," he ordered. "I will make sure he does not fall deeper." But it wasn't hard to tell that Thor was just as worried as Tony and probably knew just as little about what they should do.

Tony had no time to listen to his latter words as he ran through the Tower, ordering Jarvis to get Jane and Eric from downstairs. Banner was already heading towards Loki and Tony grabbed the first clean knife he could see, running back to the room to give it to Thor.

"The Tesseract's liquid should be removed from his body," Thor spoke, taking the knife. He moved it to Loki's wrist and made a small slit, right where his artery was.

"Thor!" Tony suddenly shouted, looking at how the blue liquid seeped out of his body. "You're killing him!"

"He's already dead!" Thor replied. "His heart is only still beating because the Tesseract has power over his body. If we do not hurry, he will rise as the Tesseract itself and that is not what we want," he spoke, slitting Loki's other wrist too. At least the blue 'blood' looked less gruesome than red blood would.

"Oh my God," Jane spoke as she entered the room. It took a while before she realised what was going on.

"Get the blood we have," Thor spoke, watching how the blue glow left Loki.

"How is this going to work?" Banner then asked, shocked by what was suddenly happening. Tony also, had no words at all, his own heart beating like crazy. "I mean, we're killing him, entirely, there is no way to get his heart pumping..."

"Loki is dead anyway and I will not let his body be claimed by the power of the Tesseract. He is my brother," Thor spoke. "I have a plan, now all do as I say."

Tony just stood there, a little shocked. How had they, the scientists, gone from being the source of knowledge to being the ones ordered around by Thor? "You're going to jumpstart his heart?" he asked Thor then, at the realization that, of course, this was what Thor was planning.

"Yes," Thor replied, giving him one last look before focussing on Loki fully. The power was radiating off Thor, which was incredibly strange as, by now, you would have thought that they'd all be used to it, but this was different. Thor was connecting to Loki in some way, expanding his magical powers to another...

Jane came back with the blood, which Eric soon started to hang up. "You've just let that leak onto the floor?" Eric then asked.

"This is Loki we're talking about and that blue stuff it better off being untouched," Tony snapped. "Now don't interrupt Thor, he's doing stuff," Tony said, pacing a little bit. Everyone noticed how Tony wasn't being his usual self, but no one commented. The pacing, the fast talking, the fretting... Usually Tony was one to stay calm. He'd risked his own life often enough and stayed the calmest of them all, but that was it; this wasn't his own life... nor just any other life...

"He needs to be empty before we start pumping stuff inside of him," Banner spoke, leaning over to Loki's chest. "His heart is still beating, slowly, but it is. We need to wait until it has stopped entirely, to ensure that not only Loki, but the Tesseract is dead too. This is not Loki making his heart beat, after all, it is the Tesseract," Bruce spoke. "If it was down to just Loki, he would have been long gone... but that is slightly logical as he doesn't have any human blood running through him," Bruce spoke, keeping his finger by Loki's neck to feel his pulse. Tony caught himself thinking that he should be the one doing that, but there was no time to fight about roles.

They waited in silence and it took minutes before the liquid had stopped dripping. All the while Tony needed to stop himself from shouting out to just stop this nonesense and give him the blood. He was damn well going to _need_it! There was hardly anything left in his body when they were done draining it! "His heart has stopped," Bruce spoke not a moment later, and Tony felt his own heart sink at that, although it had been the one thing they'd been waiting for. "The connection has broken. Selveig, push the needles into his veins, now," Bruce spoke. The moment Loki's heart had stopped, Thor had disconnected his mind with Loki's.

"What were you doing?" Tony asked Thor then.

"I'll tell you later," he spoke, taking healing stones from the drawer in the bedside table. He crumbled them and let the wounds heal up entirely, though a strange line, where the knife had cut his skin, remained. It was almost like the Tesseract's liquid had bit into his skin, like a strong acid would. "The blood with not flow until his heart starts once more. Everyone will need to back away," Thor spoke, looking around at everyone. "Eric, Tony, you stay on each side of him to replace the blood when his heart starts to beat again," Thor spoke.

The tension in the air was huge as there was such a large chance that all of this was for nothing, that they were not going to retrieve Loki from the dead. Had Thor made sure he would return? What had Thor done? He was a God and therefore Tony felt inclined to believe he could keep someone from dying, but he was too pessimistic for stuff like that.

Bruce and Jane stood back, watching the bed from a distance, while Thor raised his hands and let his magic flow in the form of electricity, pinpointing the exact location of Loki's heart and letting the electricity flow through him entirely. It concentrated itself at that point.

It went on for minutes and minutes and nothing happened, nothing at all. Thor stopped for a moment, then moved closer, his hand pressing to Loki's chest. "If this does not work, I do not know what will..." Thor spoke, his eyes once again shutting to let electricity flow through Loki. It made him jolt and that was a horrible sight, a very horrible sight, one that Tony could hardly bare, but still he watched, ready to see the blood in the bag run into Loki's veins. It were a difficult, long and desperate few minutes, until suddenly, Loki's body jolted strangely and the blood started to run into Loki's body.

"It's working, it's working," Selveig spoke and Tony started to squeeze the bag, trying to get the blood into Loki's system faster. Thor had stopped the lightning running into his body, but still kept his hand on Loki's chest to make sure his heart kept beating. Soon, the bags of blood were empty and got replaced. And so, Loki became less white, became stiller and passed into some form of deep sleep.

The first time Tony was alone with him was when everyone went to bed and Tony volunteered to do the night shift. He hung over Loki, his lips on his forehead, holding him close, caressing his hair. He had slipped into a coma, something Thor compared with something called the 'Odinsleep', a sleep his father fell into once in a while that could take days on end. Tony preferred to use the word 'coma' even though it was not positive.

Whether they would get him back was still the question and it feared Tony. It made him lock all the things he'd wanted to tell Loki up as he was no affectionate or loving person. He'd had his heart broken before and didn't want to admit that it was broken once more, despite the fact that Loki had never confessed a love to Tony, he had definitely confided in him and showed him how much he mattered. Loki cared about Tony and Loki wanted him to be present. And thus he stayed now and the rest of the hours and days he spent in this state, stabilised by all the machinery Tony could get legally.

Only after three days they measured improvement, measured Loki starting to breathe by himself, but still in a coma. He did not move a muscle in his body, unless it was one needed to in and exhale. It worried them all, but the improvement was definitely something to become hopeful about.

They were feeding him and making sure he got water, now glad they had enough doctors and scientists about to make sure he was being stabilised properly. With the improvement, Tony dared to leave the room every once in a while, sometimes to secretly light up a cigarette in his own room. Nobody knew he smoked sometimes. Even he himself didn't know, that was how secret it was. But it did help when he needed it. One of those times was now, definitely now.

"He moved!" someone shouted. He tossed the cigarette the many feet down out of the window and rushed through to Loki's room. "He moved, I saw it," she said. "His shoulder moved, just a little, but it moved," she said.

"Loki?" Tony asked softly, causing another twitch in Loki's body. "Are you waking up? Loki..." he said softly, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

"I'll go and get Thor," she spoke, but Tony instantly responded to just leave him and Loki for a while. He would get him awake, he was sure of it, so very sure. As Jane left, he caressed Loki's hair, held him close and whispered softly all the reasons why he should wake.

"I am waiting for you, Loki... I am waiting for your return," he whispered, close to the God's ear. "I have been watching over you and if you open your eyes, I will be the first thing you see," he whispered. "And that's what you want, Loki," Tony said, the arrogance still every now and then tinting his voice, but he knew that that amused Loki, which may make sure that his recovery sped up. "I need you back, Loki, there's so much I need to tell you."

He was holding the God's hand and he felt a soft squeeze and as he moved up, he saw how Loki's lips parted a little more and a small change came over his face. Yes, a Loki-like change... His frown.

Tony laughed softly. "I'm here," he whispered, moving his free hand over the side of Loki's face, who squeezed his eyes, then started to blink, opening his eyes. The light was dim in the room, so it wouldn't blind Loki, would he wake... and now he was. Indeed, Tony was the first thing Loki saw, Loki's blurred, hazy eyes, but they did see and they saw him. Tony gave him a smile, which Loki returned, though only slightly, a little half-heartedly as he had no energy to make the effort.

"I'm glad you're awake, Loki," Tony whispered, smiling slightly wider, moving down to press a kiss to the corner of Loki's mouth, to which Loki let out an almost inaudible sound. Tony smiled once more.

There was no way Loki would be able to speak up, but it didn't matter. The fact that his eyes clearly told Tony that he was wanted was enough. Tony continued to stroke Loki's hair and from time to time he'd move down to slowly press their lips together.

"You can go to sleep if you want to," Tony whispered, "but I wouldn't mind you staying awake a little while longer, so I can look into your eyes." Yes, he had missed that. The colour of Loki's eyes was such an amazing shade of green. He wondered if anyone had ever told the God this, but figured being the first was certainly not what he wanted. Though it was hardly fair to keep the truth from those that could not lie.

He leaned down to kiss those lips he'd missed so much again, letting the kiss linger this time and as he moved back he breathed out, letting his breath snake over Loki's skin, who's frown increased somewhat. He had no idea why the sight amused him so much, but it was certainly one of the God's better expressions. "What is it?" Tony asked, as he watched the God's nose wrinkle just slightly.

Loki tried to voice a reply, but he had no voice at all for the moment, but his lips had formed the word 'smoke' and Tony knew it and realized exactly why the God had frowned; his breath stank of cigarette smoke... At first he smiled, then he laughed and after that he pressed quite a firm kiss to Loki's lips, not caring if it caused the other to whine at the smell. He was strangely glad the God was awake and he knew it showed and would probably lead to multiple jokes and remarks from Loki's side. But for the moment he did not care.

Loki was truly the only one that knew of Tony's secret habit and somehow also that fit. He continued to stroke Loki's hair until he finally found Loki falling asleep. About ten minutes later there was a knock on the door and he jolted back, hands moving away from Loki and his back straightening. "Yes?" he asked, to which the door opened and Thor stepped inside.

"Has he awakened?" he asked. Tony laughed softly at the choice of words as it sounded much like Loki was some kind of gruesome dragon-like monster, or at least that was what Tony pictured.

"He was, now he is sleeping," he said, looking down at Loki shortly. "I think, mentally, that he's feeling pretty good, actually," Tony said. "At least... not so bad as when the Tesseract was controlling him. I think he was terrified. I have the feeling he now has a sense of being himself again, whatever that is," he said, giving Thor a slight shrug.

"I hope I can rely on your words, as do I hope for them to be true," Thor spoke. "I will hope for him to come to senses..." Thor turned to Tony, then raised his eyebrows. "I must tell you not to get your hopes up for his kindness. He will have been kind, but that is due to his tire," Thor explained. "Do not rely on him to treat you nicely when he is fully recovered."

"We got along fine before he drank that stuff," Tony said, raising his eyebrows a little to tell Thor to mind his own business and that he knew perfectly what Loki was like. "You know, you telling me how Loki is going to disappoint me is maybe exactly why Loki is so angry," Tony spoke, raising his eyebrows. Jane stood in the door opening, but he ignored that. "I know you find it hard to trust your brother, as he is not exactly reliable at most times, but you can trust _in _him," Tony spoke confrontationally.

Thor looked at him in a slightly offended manner. "I just wanted you to be prepared for it, should he disappoint you," Thor spoke, raising his eyebrows.

"You're a hopeful lot," Tony spoke, raising his eyebrows. Thor frowned a little at the man's harshness, though Jane knew something else, linking it to Tony's peculiar behaviour when they has tried to revive Loki.

"Tony," she spoke, looking him over. "Why don't you leave him for a moment. You need some time out of here. Why don't you go for a walk?"

"I'm fine," Tony responded. "I don't do walks, which you may have realised and to be honest, I don't want to leave him for a moment with that..." Tony squeezed his eyes shut. "You know what, good idea, I'll go," Tony said, looking back at Loki, Thor at his side, before leaving with Jane, not very amused about finding out where her questions were going to go now.

He wondered why he'd gone along with this idea, as it certainly wasn't his style to take a 'time-out', but it was probably for the best to get away from Loki for now. If only for the fact that it would be less suspicious. He'd been acting weird, he realized, and others were slowly beginning to notice. Of course, especially Jane would look right through whatever lies he put up. Which he wasn't all too happy with. Well, he was just going to have to be his genius self and make sure that he would put enough white lies up so she wouldn't consider actually believing that he felt more for Loki than pure, bitter and nasty hate.

"You must have enjoyed Loki's company when he was staying here before he went to SHIELD," Jane spoke. He gave an honest shrug, turning to the living room to get himself a scotch, which he offered to Jane too. She turned it down. Pff, Pepper wouldn't have.

"It was better than being alone, I must say," he said, shrugging, "but it usually caused for more complications than anything else. Finding three dead members of SHIELD in my house, about to be thrown out of the window, was the last drop, as you may have heard," he explained. He'd never really talked to Jane and he wasn't sure if he liked it. She was too... sweet. He preferred Pepper, who knew him much better and knew exactly what to do to make him do things and how to approach him. "His presence did make me long for those times alone, though."

She looked up at him and laughed softly. "It must be weird to have five extra people in your house," she raised an eyebrows.

"Yes," he just said, not wanting anyone to feel unwelcome. He smiled at her and drank his scotch, pacing through the living room. "You know, I'm going for a spin," he said, placing his glass down on one of the shelves, walking outside to get suited up. He waited for the mask to come over him, Jarvis connecting to the suits system.

"Good afternoon, sir," Jarvis spoke. "Any requests?"

"Keep a good eye on Loki, let me see it about... here," he motioned with his eyes where he wanted it to be, then started his repulsors, flying off through New York City, over to the sea. He needed time alone, indeed, out of that room. But that was not talking to Jane, despite the fact that she had questions and wanted to know every single detail of everything he said. Why did she want her suspicions confirmed like this? Ha, he was assuming so much, while she'd hardly said anything.

Anyway, Tony Stark didn't do walks, he just did this: flying.

It was hours before he came back, enjoying the freedom of being able to soar through the air freely. Who could stop him anyway? He knew SHIELD had told him not to overuse the suit, but he made his own rules. He did what he wanted and if he wanted to take off for a few hours, then he would.

He watched Loki's room in the corner of his eyes, seeing how Thor stayed with him and later on Jane appeared. They were talking and Loki seemed to remain asleep. It was an okay sight. At least Loki wasn't on his own. "You are requested home, sir," Jarvis spoke after a while, to which Tony felt a rush of panic go through him. There was no need for it, however, as Tony could see Loki in the corner of his eye.

"What for?" Tony asked. Dinner, apparently. Bruce Banner had made a large amount of vegetarian Falafel. Tony wasn't all too sure what to think of Bruce's food as he always had the feeling he was eating too many green thing and truly, Tony Stark just liked good tasting food. He had a good physique, a good mind and not such a good heart, but that was regardless of his eating, and still Banner was telling him how meat in a diet was unnecessary and that vegetarian food could be just as nice. Stark, honestly, couldn't care all too much and had much better things on his mind. He did, however, have a severe objection against turkey and any other meat that came from poultry.

Once he got there, they were all sitting around the table.

"Did I say you guys are allowed to start without me?" Tony asked, stepping towards them and taking a seat himself, despite how he wanted to check on Loki first. "Why is everyone silent?"

"He was pleading for you, in his sleep," Thor spoke.

"Why do we need this get together for that? Maybe I'm just a very good babysitter, if you don't mind my choice of words," Tony said, reaching out for one of the pita breads filled with Bruce's 'stuff'.

"When I say plead, I really mean plead," Thor spoke, letting out a sigh. "Maybe you should go and see him first... he sounded, upset..."

Tony frowned and got up. "Why isn't anyone with him then?" Tony asked agitatedly, heading down the hall to Loki's bedroom. Secretly he was glad with the excuse to go see him, although he realized he might still have come across too eager. Well, he would need to ensure that his hatred for Loki got to show as often and as fiercely as possible over the coming few days. That would stop them from making any assumptions they shouldn't.

He closed the door behind him immediately when he entered the room and what had been quite a casual pace suddenly turned into a rush, as he sped to the side of Loki's bed. "How're you feeling?" he asked, trying not to sound _too_concerned, but interested at the very least. Loki's eyes fluttered open and the pained and troubled expression that Tony hadn't missed doubled when he saw it in the green of his eyes too. "What's up?" he continued to ask. For some strange reason Loki's eyes were looking him over entirely and every second that passed his expression seemed to ease. That certainly was a strange thing to do. One might almost thing that it was merely his presence that soothed the God that should hate him.

"Where did you go?" Loki asked and it was the strangest question Tony could imagine him asking. Especially since it seemed like Loki was judging him for going in the first place, which was simply bizarre.

"Out. Flying and stuff. Just out."

"Why?" Loki continued to ask.

"Is this an interrogation or something?" Tony asked, a little taken aback. "I'm here now, alright. That's all that matters." But clearly it wasn't all that mattered. Not to Loki anyway. "What? I've been here all the time, you can hardly blame me for wanting some fresh air."

Loki looked up at Tony, seemingly offended by his words, though Tony could not say exactly what was offending by them. "Now, what's up?" he asked, his hand moving up to Loki's forehead, gently brushing his hair back. He leaned down to plant a soft kiss on his forehead, then moved up. Loki still looked worried, to which Tony just let out a sigh. "Loki, look, I need some fresh air every now and then. Seeing you like this isn't... easy," he said, though hated to admit it. Loki's face turned to a slight grin, though at Tony's fierce look, it cleared off to spare Tony the anger he might have provoked. That maybe only made it worse, though.

"Do you find that amusing?" Tony asked, raising his eyebrows. Loki shook his head, looking at him in a manner that said the same as: 'I don't know what you're talking about.' Tony found his returned act amusing, somehow liking how Loki had become more Loki again, despite how that could cause quite a lot of trouble...

"I find it amusing that you daren't tell me what you feel, while I know so exactly from your facial expressions and your timing of humour," Loki spoke, looking up at Stark.

"Which facial expression?" he asked, looking the God over. Or should he say: ex-God?

"Which timing of humour?" Loki replied, raising his eyebrows. "Your jokes are bad, Stark," he said, raising his eyebrows.

"Which jokes?" Tony asked, the same dumbfound look on his face, as if he had no clue as to what Loki was talking about.

Loki just gave him a glare, though it wasn't even half as intense as it usually was. Loki was still so incredibly tired and he could see that incredibly well.

"I don't..." Tony sighed, "I don't know what the problem is," Tony said, humour tinting his words, sarcasm laying thick on his tongue.

"Stark, this is enough," Loki spoke, quite frustratedly so as Tony's remarks had seemed to go on as long as what seemed forever.

"Now that's my sense of humour; making Loki whinge," he said, raising his eyebrows as if he had truly accomplished something. "Now, do you want something to eat, 'cause I'll bring you something. I'm hungry, but I'll eat through there," he spoke, nodding towards the kitchen.

"Why not here?" Loki questioned, disappointment clear in his eyes. Tony's hand moved back from Loki's forehead and he gave a bit of a shrug.

"People are beginning to get suspicious," he said, shrugging it off like it meant nothing at all. "Now, do you want something or not?" Loki just shrugged, seemingly not so pleased with Tony's words about everyone's suspicions.

"Suspicions of what?" Loki then asked. Tony let out a soft sigh and raised his eyebrows.

"I think you know exactly what," Tony said, leaning down. He'd missed those lips anyway, he might as well kiss them to prove his point and so he planted his lips on Loki's, kissing him firmly. He let their lips move together while his hand moved to the back of the God's head, pulling him up and firmly against him, amused by the ease of which he lifted Loki. Though what amused him more were Loki's squeezing hands on his shoulders, pressing him closer and tighter to him.

Tony loved the fact that Loki liked his kisses and what he loved perhaps even more was the fact that Loki did not try to hide it, at least not now. Loki wrapped his arms around Tony and let out a soft moan into Tony's mouth, to which the God stiffened, clearly ashamed about what he had just done. Tony just kissed him back firmer, wanting another noise like that and slowly he found himself climbing upon the bed, moving further over Loki. His hand made a fist in the man's hair and he found himself up on top of Loki, claiming him with his lips and tongue, making the puny God his.

"We shouldn't-" Loki somehow managed to get in, but Tony felt so little for another one of Loki's comments that he kissed the thoughts away. Yet it lingered, for they indeed shouldn't be doing these things. Now, Tony wasn't the one to obey to any sort of rules or general ideas of what should and shouldn't be done, but in this case the chances were that someone would knock on the door at any given moment, which was unfortunate.

"Getting rid of them should be easy enough," Tony then said and he received quite the amused look from the God below him.

"It's deceivingly harder than you think, trust me, I tried."

For a moment Tony stared at him, but a moment later he was laughing. Perhaps this was one of those things he shouldn't find funny at all, especially since he _had_nearly been killed that day, but he didn't care! The sparkle in Loki's eyes and the seriousness in his tone accompanied the comment so well that Tony could not do anything, but grin.

Tony amusedly kissed Loki's lips once more. "I must return to get food," Tony spoke, kissing Loki for longer this time. He held Loki's face in his hands and planted a pretty perfect kiss upon his lips. He smiled against the God's skin, then moved back to get up and walk back to the kitchen.

"What was it?" Thor asked as he returned, which he did in a very normal pace. He joined the table as if nothing had just occurred in the bedroom and started to eat what he had intended to eat all along.

"Nothing, he just wanted to know where I'd got off to. Apparently he likes me over all of you, but he doesn't like me having alone time because that means he'll have to be alone," Tony spoke, a the tone in his voice inclining that he perhaps wasn't all too satisfied with Loki's way of clingy act.

"That's odd," Bruce said, as no one said anything for a short while and it was certainly becoming awkward.

"I know," Tony said, trying to sound sincere. "It's like he's hit his head or something. Ah well, liking be over the lot of you guys isn't quite so weird, I have to admit, but actually missing me."

"He missed you?" Thor asked.

"Apparently so," Tony said, though felt it was high time to change the subject. If they lingered here much longer one of them might just string things together they shouldn't. "So, don't you guys thing it's about time to leave me alone again? Don't get me wrong; love the lot of you, but you know... I like privacy."

"What of Loki?" Thor asked. "He cannot come to Asgard yet."

"If he _has_to stay here, then fine... I'll let him have that room."

Thor seemed pleased and soon, as they finished dinner, they were setting out to leave, much to Tony's delight. Soon, Thor was the only one still around, for the sake of needing a last word with Loki. Tony knew Loki wouldn't like the company, but figured being alone afterwards would make up for it. (He hadn't yet figured out exactly in what way it would make up for it, though.)

Loki lay restless, yet exhausted. He wondered why Tony hadn't come back when he'd left to get food, but figured that he'd got caught up in conversation. It felt so similar to the many times he'd waited on Thor, who had ended up caught up in whatever nonsense they'd planned. Often Loki had fallen asleep on Thor's bed, before he'd returned. It didn't matter. And this mattered even less. It was just Tony, after all, someone he hated.

The door opened and for a moment he felt hopeful, but when he saw Thor nearing he could only sigh and look away.

"Loki," Thor spoke and Loki knew what the tone of voice meant: a goodbye with a good, long list of rules attached.

"You don't have to tell me," he replied, before finally looking up. He moved then and pushed himself up into a sitting position, despite how it hurt him.

"Tony is letting you stay with him," Thor spoke. "Please behave."

"I will decide my course of actions myself, Thor, like I always have."

"It would certainly not be wise to forget your manners now you are offered a place to stay. Do you want to return back to dwelling the streets?"

"I do not care for a place to stay or for warmth," he spoke, quite fiercely, although he knew he needed to be careful not to speak a lie.

"Try not to draw too much attention. We do not want SHIELD to have another reason to lock you up."

"They have reason enough as it is," Loki spoke, though he knew Thor was right. He didn't want to go back there, certainly not now he'd grown only weaker. He didn't want to have to go through that again... Yet, one day he'd have to go back, for the ones that opposed him faced severe punishment. That day would come.

"Please, my br- Loki, be true to yourself and find it in your heart to do good."

"Spare me your riddles of good and evil," Loki said, though he had noted how Thor had stopped calling him his brother. On the one hand it pained him, on the other it was a sign that he was slowly being heard.

"I will await your return to Asgard," Thor spoke, leaning over Loki and pressing a kiss to his forehead, a token of true care. "Take care, Loki," he stood and bowed his head a little, showing Loki a certain form of respect, after which he headed for the door.

Loki didn't want to see him go, though could not bare another minute of Thor's presence, not like this. He hated Thor and all he'd done to pain him, he hated it all... "Goodbye, Thor," Loki spoke, wanting to have said something, though not knowing what. What could he say to one he didn't believe to be any better than he was, though constantly tried to prove himself to?

"Goodbye, Loki," Thor spoke, facing Loki for a moment, giving him a smile of reassurance, before leaving the room.

Moments passed in which Loki slipped into dark places, dark places that the thoughts of Thor brought him to. Memories of being alone, memories of waiting, but it all did not matter as he was not that boy that waited anymore. He was that boy that was going to make Thor wait, for he was going to prove himself to be stronger and better than any other.

The door opened and Tony slipped inside, who'd been gone for long. Loki's eyes opened and turned towards the scientist, his body still upright, though having slipped down into a slight awkward position. Loki tried to adjust himself, which Tony watched. "I needed to take Thor out of the city," Tony spoke, to which Loki just nodded, then frowned slightly. Why hadn't he heard any thunder yet? "He wanted to take in the city before he left," he said. "I gave him another ten minutes walk before he could get to a place open enough for him to leave without causing too much uproar," Stark said, giving him a slight laugh.

Loki shrugged a little, looking the other way. "He said he didn't want you to be alone as he left."

"Like I'd mind him leaving..." Loki said, his voice showing aversion towards the idea. Tony frowned as no threads appeared on his lips, but somehow Tony knew why. Loki himself didn't know whether he minded Thor leaving... "I couldn't..." Thunder cracked, making Loki flinch, his shoulders moving up in shock.

"Shh, it's okay," Tony said, running his hand over Loki's forehead.

"I don't need your comfort! He can leave whenever he wants to. He doesn't need to check that with me, okay?" Loki said, anger visible in his eyes, though fear and sadness too.

"Alright, Loki," Tony said and they sat in silence, listening to the thunder and the storm that was soon raging. Loki's eyes seem to shift through the room, looking for some sort of point of focus that he couldn't find. There was no distraction from the noise, not to Loki. It meant too much to the God and yet he pretended not to care, but Tony could see right through the act, of course. He'd read too many pages of that book not to know these sorts of things about Loki, despite how the God would probably prefer it if he didn't know. Well, nothing to do about that anymore.

"So, you're probably hungry," Tony said, after a moment. Loki's eyes shot to meet his and for a moment Tony was unsure what his reaction would be. "There's not much left of dinner," he said. "Thor has quite the appetite."

"I don't want anything," Loki replied then.

"It's not about what you want," Tony replied. "But certainly you _need_to eat."

Loki let out a sigh and Tony pressed a firm kiss to his temple. "You can let your guard down, okay, it's just me you're with," Tony spoke, standing up to fetch some food.

"Do you think you can convince me to trust you just like that?" Loki asked, to which Tony shrugged and stepped towards the door, opening it.

"You can trust me, that's what I'm saying. That's all," Tony spoke, leaving for the kitchen. The food was long cold and tidied up, but he managed to get one of the breads filled, after warming up the falafel balls again. He took that to Loki, unsure if it would be enough, or perhaps too much. "Here," he spoke, placing the plate down on Loki's lap, who'd neatly waited where he was. "It's quite nice, actually. Have a try."

Loki shrugged a little, looking away from the plate. "You don't like eating while someone's watching, do you?" Tony asked. "Why not? It's just eating, everyone eats..."

"I don't care that everyone eats, I just don't want to," he said. Tony raised his eyebrows for a moment, though knew that cracking a few jokes about it wouldn't help Loki explain to him what the problem was, which was eventually what Tony wanted him to do. So, he tried his best not to provoke that guarding side of Loki any further.

"I'm not going to laugh at you for eating," Tony said and he meant it. Although, if Loki continued to make this big a problem out of it it might just end up being funny to see the God eat. That, however, would be entirely Loki's fault.

"I simply don't want you to see," Loki replied. In the end Tony figured that it was more important that Loki ate, than it was for Tony to figure out why he wouldn't and thus he left the God alone for a good twenty minutes. When he returned Loki had put the empty plate aside and had taken the book to write in it, which he quickly closed upon Tony's nearing.

"It wasn't that bad, was it?" Tony asked, nodding towards the plate. Loki shook his head, though didn't seem to be in the mood to continue their talk of food. "What are you writing?" As if he would answer that...

"I'm writing about you," Loki replied, much to Tony's confusion.

"What about me?" me asked, instantly moving closer to try and take a glimpse at the pages.

Loki pressed the book to his chest, making it impossible for Tony to look into it. "It's rude to say things about someone behind their back," Tony teased, moving closer to try to pry the book out of Loki's hands.

"No it's not. I write what I want," Loki spoke, his eyes narrowing as they connected to Tony's. "It's none of your business."

"Oh, well, then it isn't," Tony said, rolling his eyes. He moved to lie down on his stomach on the bed, looking at Loki. "Carry on, if you want, I can't see what you're writing and it's none of my business, so I won't try to read it," Tony spoke, shrugging casually.

"You're not very subtle," Loki spoke, a tone of boredom in his voice. "Can you leave me be?" he asked, looking at Tony, making him frown. Loki seemed troubled, troubled with something he'd been writing about. Perhaps Loki was as confused as Tony was about Loki confiding in Tony.

"Do you mind if I work in here?" he asked. He had certain things to sort out for Stark Industries that Pepper had kindly left for him to do. She would have come over this afternoon so they could do it together, though considering the circumstances, that wouldn't have gone so well. With that, he didn't even have any time for it.

Loki just shrugged and Tony left for a moment, before coming back with one: other clothes on, and two, a set of screens and stands that he needed. "Okay, you write your stuff, I do my finances," he said, letting out a soft sigh. The light of his arc reactor shone through his sleeveless shirt brightly and he actually wondered if Loki knew what it was. Better that he didn't know, before he attempted to yank it out of him.

He set up the screens around him and started to get the placing of it all sorted so he could start figuring out how he was going to have to pay less and receive more money. Tricky, but he could do it. And so he spent hours calculating, cursing to himself and getting angry every now and then. He didn't even pay so much attention to Loki, until it was gone midnight and he'd found that Loki had fallen asleep, book still open in his lap, the pen resting on the paper. He was apparrently in the middle of a sentence. Tony smiled and stepped towards him. Yes, this was how it was supposed to be; Tony working, Loki sleeping.

The God seemed so perfectly at peace that Tony was afraid to disturb him. He didn't want to leave the God to rest in the state he was now, however, as surely that would hurt his neck and back in the morning.

He took the pen from between Loki's fingers and - casting his eyes on the book - forced himself to close it, before he laid it down on the nightstand. Sure, a few words had caught his attention, how could he not have peeked? He'd seen his own name and what had surprised him was the fact that Loki had referred to him as 'Tony', not 'Stark' or 'The Man of Iron' or any other weird nickname the God had for him. He had also seen the words 'alone', 'death wish', 'better if I' and 'to lose you', but it was difficult to string together what that was supposed to mean and he didn't allow himself another look.

He took hold of Loki, who let out a soft, semi-annoyed, noise as he was being lifted and moved. It was a good thing Tony had experience lifting things and Loki was hardly a problem. Surely, he weighed more than another human his size would, but that was only to be expected when you were, in fact, a God.

"Rest, Loki, don't wake," he spoke softly as he saw Loki's eyes move behind closed eyelids. He moved the covers up and tucked him in and soon was back to work. Yet, he couldn't keep focused, continuously trying to picture the page he'd seen in the hope he'd get to understand what Loki had been writing about him. It was ridiculous; he wasn't the one for respecting other's secrets. Not like this, anyway. Not with _Loki_. And his name had been on that page! How could he not want to know, when it was _about him_. Then suddenly it struck him. Loki had written 'to lose you' not 'to lose him' and a moment later he had grabbed the book and was trying to find the right page. (Loki had written in most of the sidelines and on all the empty pages that followed the closing of chapters.) The text was directed at him, not about him! He _could_read it!

Then he found it and he immediately started reading, despite the guilt he felt at doing so.

_To Tony,_

_I thought that I knew what being alone felt like, when I'd lost the closeness with Thor, a long time ago, but the truth is that only now do I know how to put the word 'alone' in perspective. I am alone, as I always am, as nobody truly understands anything, not even a bit, but you do understand more than anyone has done before, because for some reason you want to. Only now to I realise how alone I truly was._

_You saved me, for when I let myself fall, I truly wanted to die. I did not want to carry on the sorry life I had that was hardly a life at all. I had nothing, I __have__ nothing and thus my death wish still stands. I do not want to live a life whilst knowing the torture that I have been through. I do not want to live whilst constantly being reminded of true pain, whilst knowing that there is pain much more severe than most have experienced._

_It would be better if I was not here, as I only cause trouble to the people that have shown me that they care. I have infiltrated your life which was previously fine and now complicated. I have infiltrated, like I tried to infiltrate Thor's, whilst only breaking every single thing he loved. I don't want to break you as you are the only one whom has shown true care and understanding. I hate you for it, do not misunderstand me._

_I don't want to lose you, but there is no other way, for I am not worthy of anybody's company, or anybody's trouble. I am not worthless and thus I will go and you might tell me that I should not, but I have made up my mind. My pain of losing you will be stilled at death and everyone will forget me, like they did when they thought I was dead. Nothing will change, for I was never alive again after my fall after all._

There were scribbles in another language below these words, which Tony could not reveal the meaning of. It was quite a large amount of scribbles, formed with letters he didn't even recognise, though had seen elsewhere throughout this book.

"_Thank you_" was written at the bottom of the page, with Loki's name below it, but there was enough room for Loki to still finish the letter. It was not yet finished, but it didn't matter. Tony knew Loki's secret now and he knew that he was going to have to do everything in his power to stop Loki from inflicting pain on himself, stop him from taking his own life.

He closed the book, taking a deep breath, tucking Loki in better. He kissed the sleeping man's forehead and headed to the bar, grabbing enough alcohol for the rest of the night and figuring that he might as well carry on with what he needed to work on, as he could not sleep with Loki's deep thoughts on his mind.


	12. Chapter 12) A tragedy

**A/N: Thank you all for still reading this story and hopefully enjoying it! Apologies in advance for the angsty chapter, we hope you like it!**

**Chapter twelve)**** A tragedy.**

The morning came much the same as the second morning they'd been together had felt. Loki had got up before Tony had managed to pull him out of the sleepy drunken haze that he had finally fallen asleep in. On the couch, mind you. Loki was searching through the cupboards once more and seemingly didn't care about doing it quietly, despite the severe headache that Tony had to deal with.

"Loki, shut up," he groaned into one of the pillows as the noise was getting ridiculous. Okay, possibly it wasn't that bad, but it certainly had a great effect on his only partially sober mind. Loki didn't seem to take his order to heart, as the noises continued. What was he doing? "Loki!" Tony groaned again, louder this time, but he once more got no response, other than a slightly harder slammed shut kitchen door. "That's unnecessary," Tony commented, but he already figured that whatever he tried Loki would not listen.

A few minutes later the noises had ceased and he heard footsteps leave the room. That was good, he thought, while falling back asleep. He had no idea how much time had passed when he woke once more, but when he did the alerting thought of the book rushed through his mind and a moment later he was pushing himself up fully.

Dizzy, nauseated and exhausted still, he stepped towards the kitchen. Some cupboards were still opened, others were flung shut again. Ah, what exactly had this havoc appointed to, Tony wondered, but he couldn't figure it out. He looked at the few draws that weren't shut properly. There was some cutlery spread across the counter and other kitchen machinery had found its way onto the floor...

He sighed.

"Loki..." he spoke, while making his way to the God's room. But not a moment later he was was rushing back to the kitchen, pulling open the cutlery draw. It wasn't that all cutlery had found its way into the mess... No, only the knives had. Immediately he scanned the rest of the kitchen and his eyes fell onto the holder he had for the sharper knives. Not one was still in place...

Barely three seconds later he stood knocking on Loki's locked door. "Loki! Fuck you! Open this god damned door! _Now_!" No response. "Jarvis, open it, now." And surely another second or so later a click sounded throughout the door's system indicating that it was unlocked. Loki wasn't in his room and immediately Tony raced to get into the bathroom, which was locked as well. "Open, open, open," he spoke impatiently, worry lining his every move.

Tony slammed his hands on the door. "Jarvis! For fuck's sake today is not a good day to be slow!" The door unlocked itself and he pushed it opened immediately. Loki stood in the room, his shirt off, panic running through him. He was letting out lots of pained noises, noises of fear and Tony found sharp knives lying a all over the floor. There was blood, but he didn't know where it had come from and thus he just stepped towards Loki, picking him up from the ground.

Loki let out a pained scream, which he let out due to his panic and his incapability to remain silent. He was losing control of himself and it was only when he had pulled Loki up, he saw the blood dripping from his chest, the largest knife in Loki's hand. It was shaking, as was Loki's entire body. "Loki, shh," he whispered, picking him up so he wouldn't accidentally cut his toes, or foot, off by these sharp knives.

"Loki, it's okay, I'm here," he spoke. "I read it, it's okay, I know... I _know,_" Tony spoke, though his words only caused Loki to cry harder, a fist stomping against Tony's chest, though he was not truly angry with Tony, he was just terrified and it was a fear Tony's never seen in another.

He put Loki down on the toilet after having put the lid down and he looked at his chest. Loki had pushed the knife into his chest, but not far, he had stopped, too afraid to carry on. Tony's lips pressed to Loki's collar bone, then to his neck and then to Loki's trembling, whimpering lips, wet with tears. "You're safe with me, Loki, trust me, _please,_that you're safe with me..."

He had taken hold of the knife as he was afraid Loki wouldn't be capable to hold it steady and it might tear through his skins in ways Tony really didn't want. He took a firm hold of it, though didn't yet pull back. It was hard to judge how far the knife was pushed inside him, though feeling how steady the hilt was it was quite deep... It sickened Tony, but he could not allow himself to show it. Loki was trembling enough for the both of them.

"I need to pull it out," Tony said. "But you might start bleeding a lot more when I do." If only he knew what to do in situations like this! "Jarvis," he said, trying to keep his voice steady. He held Loki firmly and knew he was scaring the God as he basically held all the control over Loki's mortal body. The knife was in his hand, after all and he did not allow Loki to take it over again. No, he didn't trust the God with something like that. "Jarvis, get- Just search- Search whatever..."

Jarvis spoke something affirmative, to which Tony just locked his eyes on Loki's. "This is going to hurt, maybe more than it did to push it in," he spoke, looking deeply into Loki's tear-filled eyes.

"I want to go!" Loki screamed, his hands trembling. "I want to go, don't you see?!" he screamed. "I am nothing! I don't dese-"

Tony's lips were on Loki's cutting his words off. "You are not nothing, you are much more than nothing," he spoke, pressing his nose to Loki's. "And if you can't find what you are, then you are mine, just that," Tony spoke, never having spoken such words since the relationship he'd had many, many years ago, after which he'd promised himself never again to get involved with someone. And now he had...

"Tony," Loki's voice was a mere whisper and his fingers were on Tony's face. It was the first time the God had called him by his first name, out of his own will. "Kill me," he whispered softly, his fingers running over the side of Tony's face.

"Shut your eyes," Tony spoke, moving closer, his lips gently brushing Loki's. "I love you," he whispered in the softest way he could manage. He pulled back and Loki's eyes remained shut.

Tony took a deep breath, his hand holding onto the knife firmly, his hand clenching Loki's shoulder firmly. "Now feel," he spoke softly, "feel how far from 'nothing' you are." He then gave the knife one pull, which made blood gush out of Loki's chest. The knife wasn't as deep as it could have been, but this was fatal. He could die, right now, he could die.

Loki's eyes opened and he looked up at Tony. He coughed softly and blood trickled down his chin. "What have you done...?" Loki whispered and Tony was pulling his own shirt off pressing it against the wound, stopping the bleeding.

"I'm saving you," he replied, though he had no idea how he was going to manage to keep the God alive this time. "I seem to be doing that a lot lately. I blame you for it. Well, this is all sort of your own fault, so I guess I can legitimately blame you for it, not just because I hate you or anything."

"Stop," Loki replied and it was almost a plead.

Loki breathed in deeply, but could not seem to find it in his power to overcome the pain he felt. Had Tony's act of pulling the knife out of Loki's chest condemned him to his death? There must be a way to stop him from bleeding as he was not bringing Loki to a hospital, that would only go wrong.

"Notify Banner, we may need a surgeon," he spoke to Jarvis, holding his shirt against the wound to stop the bleeding and letting the blood clot. He then pressed his thumb to Loki's chest, where a main artery ran.

"I've almost died several times, Loki, you can get through this," he whispered.

"I don't want..." Loki carried on, but a cry left him then and Tony held him forwards to let him cough up the blood. Internal bleeding... which meant that death was creeping up on him closer.

"Cough it up," Tony insisted, leaning Loki forwards further. "You can pull through this, Loki," he said, his t-shirt soaking up the blood letting it clot. "You have an internal bleeding and I'm not sure what of, but it can be lethal and it will be a horrible death," he spoke. "So you have to look me in the eyes until that big scary guy comes to help me fix you up, okay?" Loki's eyes avoided Tony's frantically, but as he spoke Loki's name once again, firmly, their eyes were connected and Loki gave a nod, indicating that; yes, he would listen to him and he would keep looking at him.

"Good," Tony spoke.

"Doctor Banner is nearing," Jarvis spoke. "He says to keep the wound pressured and shut off, though let air escape. Air can enter the cavity-"

"Fine," Tony spoke, lifting a part of his shirt. His heart was beating faster and faster and Tony had trouble staying calm, but he had to. He really had to. Loki was internally freaking out enough for the both of them, after all. Frankly, Tony couldn't blame him for it. The God didn't seem to know what he wanted to happen; to survive or die. It should suddenly be troublesome if he slipped from their grasp, because his will to die.

"Just think about what happened last time," Tony then said, although he knew it was unfair to imprint such things onto the God's mind, especially now he was already tormented. "You fell, but you didn't die. Don't make the same mistake. Don't fall."

"What i- if... I can... d- die?"

"Don't even dare go there, Loki! If you die I'll go to any fucking length to bring you back to live and kill you once more myself. And I'll make sure you've never suffered like that, alright?" he replied, quite angrily as Loki's death was simply something he couldn't handle at the moment. He wouldn't admit it though. Well, Loki was probably capable to read between the lines, anyway, so in a way he _had_admit it.

He tried not to fear how pale the God had become, or the litres of red that were seeping from his body. "You better fucking stop this, okay?" Tony said, although he knew there was nothing Loki could do at this moment.

"Sir, shall I sent doctor Banner to you?" Jarvis spoke up.

"Yeah, hurry," he replied and about a minute later Bruce was stepping into the bathroom. He rushed towards them then. Tony continued to hold Loki, while making place for Bruce.

"We need to lay him down. Table, preferably," Bruce said, voice shaking. Great, a nervous doctor. That usually didn't mean much good.

"Loki, are you fucking _stupid_?" Tony shouted as he saw Loki's eyes roll back. His hands moved to Loki's face and a moment later he had slapped him. Well, at any rate it worked, as Loki's eyes were open again and he tried to look up. Tony picked him up, while Bruce continued to press the cloth against the wound. As quickly as he could he carried Loki to the room where he kicked the bureau that stood against one of the walls more towards the middle, before laying Loki down onto it. "Jarvis, lights. All. On brightest. Now."

Loki's eyes were closed once more and Tony moved his hand to Loki's forehead. "Don't you dare!" he shouted angrily, before he watched Bruce take away the cloth to inspect the damage.

Loki's eyes kept snapping open as he was slapped across the face and Bruce was rushing all over the place, having taken his equipment with him to operate. "It's a good thing there were a lot of cases of stabbings in India, I've dealt with this before," he spoke, pulling on gloves and attaching Loki to a blood drip, a mask over his face to stabilize his breathing. "I have injected him with an anaesthetics, but it will not knock him out, we need him awake," he spoke, looking at Tony. "Keep him awake, okay?"

Tony did as Bruce said, trying not to look at the inside of Loki's body which seemed so very... bloody. "Hold this," he said, giving Tony a tube, which went into Loki's chest. It sucked blood out of him and his eyes widened.

"What is this for?!" Tony asked, though held it anyway.

"Come on, Tony, haven't you ever watched a hospital soap before?" Banner asked him. "You know what, you probably haven't," he said. "Pay attention to Loki, we can't have his heart rate dropping. Keep him awake, hero."

Tony held Loki firmly, the tube in place and he handed Banner a series of things he didn't recognise himself. Loki's eyes were slipping shut more and more as his heart kept slowing, but they couldn't do anything about it as Tony was already shouting at him and slapping him every moment his eyes shut. Loki couldn't even speak, or do anything to show Tony what he wanted to say. "I'm almost done, hold on there, Loki," Banner spoke, at which Tony's heart started to race.

"Hear that? You're going to be fine, Loki! Fine!" Tony spoke, running his fingers through Loki's hair, then pinching him as his eyes shut, though they didn't open very far as he pinched him. "Loki, come on," he said. "Loki..." he spoke and the machine that was checking his pulse, a smaller version of a heart-meter, started to beep slower and slower. "We're losing him," Tony spoke.

"No, we're not," he said. "The anaesthetics are spreading through his body, they're reaching into him," Banner replied. "His heart is steady, listen to the beeps," he spoke. "It's okay, as long as his heart stays at this rate and doesn't drop any further.

Bruce motioned to increase the amount of sucking that the machine did, so Bruce could properly sew the wound. "There we go," Bruce said. "He is stable," he spoke. "It will take days to heal, but he is stable," he said.

"Thor should've left some of those healing stones behind. We can't risk losing Loki again," Tony spoke sarcastically, but the relief in his voice was audible by the breaths he let out in between his words. "Are you sure he is alright?" he asked.

"No, you never can be, but his organs are stable and working, I just need to stitch his chest shut and you need to make sure to keep a real eye on him and not let this happen again," he spoke. "I can arrange a shrink, if he needs one," Bruce said, "though I have the feeling that he'll slaughter them, despite the fact that they're trying to help..." Bruce spoke, getting to stitching Loki's chest, which look longer than expected, but was done tightly and neatly. "I'm going to put a gauze around here, he needs to stay in bed and he needs to drink a lot and get his body stable. He needs to eat protein and lots of fruits," Banner explained.

Tony looked down at Loki, "What's going on now?"

"We need to wait until he wakes..." Bruce said, seeing the worry in Tony's eyes. "He will wake, Tony," Bruce spoke, starting to tidy things up that they no longer needed. "I think you need to have a hospital on one of your floors if you're going to let Loki stay here," Bruce spoke, letting out a sigh. "Now... what happened?"

Ah, of course, he hadn't actually thought about what he was going to answer to that question. In fact, he hadn't thought of anything, but Loki's safety. Suddenly, the whole situation seemed surreal. He continued to caress Loki's forehead and tangle his fingers through dark hair.

"He... tried to kill himself, again," Tony said, although he felt awkward speaking the words. "He doesn't actually think he's all that worthy. He just wants us to think he is. Secretly, he's more insecure than you are."

"Am I supposed to find that funny?" Bruce asked, though he didn't seem to mind the reference. "He doesn't seem the kind to easily change his mind, so he probably will try again."

"I know..." Tony replied and sighed softly. That was what frightened him most of all. Loki would not learn! No matter how hard Tony would try to convince him not to go... he would make another attempt on his life. And this time he'd already been almost too late, who was to say Loki's tactics wouldn't only improve?

"Perhaps you should... get one of those beds with the straps," Bruce said, giving a little shrug. He didn't know what more to say, other than being sorry about Loki's death wish.

"He keeps writing all these things in this book," Tony spoke. "About Thor and about him and about how terrible he always feels and last night I think he wrote a suicide note," Tony said, not so sure why he was telling this to Bruce, but who else could he talk to? "It was written to me... I don't know why, but I do know that he wants to leave. He truly believes there is nothing else here for him."

"But you," Bruce said, raising his eyebrows. Tony frowned, not wanting to bust his act and Bruce only nodded towards how Tony was subconsciously moving his fingers through Loki's hair. "He's got you and he knows that."

"But he doesn't care," Tony added, raising his eyebrows. "He doesn't care at all. He doesn't want my company, even when I tell him that he can talk about, well, everything," Tony said.

"He might not dare talk, that doesn't mean he doesn't want to." And that was the whole point, wasn't it? Loki was writing everything down, yet still pretended he wanted no one to know. But if that was so, would he not have burned the book before he attempted to kill himself? "You should probably lay him down on the bed. This mustn't be comfortable when he wakes."

"I'll have to clean the mess first," he said, meaning all the blood. Bruce nodded.

"Yes and you need sure to keep the wound clean. We don't want him to suffer from any infections.

"If he behaves I'll keep it clean, yeah," Tony replied, though knew perfectly well he'd go to any length to ensure Loki would be okay. Bruce knew this too, apparently, for the made no objections. That was worrisome.

Bruce stepped to the bathroom then, made a few comments about the knives that Tony needed to ensure were out of Loki's reach, before he got a few towels and wet them. They cleaned the blood off Loki's skin and threw most of the towels away afterwards, as it wasn't like Tony was short on money.

"Do you want me to stay?" Bruce asked, after they'd put Loki to lay in his bed. The God had awoken for a short moment, had muttered a few inaudible words and had fell straight back to sleep. That was good.

"No, it'll be fine, I'm sure," Tony replied. "I'll just have Jarvis keep a stronger watch over him."

"That seems to be a good idea, yes," Bruce said.

"What? You don't think I'm capable of looking after him?"

"No, I'm afraid he is too serious about this thing to easily let it drop and the first thing he'll try to do is win back your trust, so you will leave him alone for a good five minutes, which will no doubtfully be enough if he tried something again."

"Thanks for the tip," Tony replied, somewhat sarcastically, although he knew that Bruce didn't just speak what he'd learned in books. No, this was experience talking and thus Tony did take the message to heart. He couldn't trust Loki and he wouldn't.

"I guess I'd better get going then," Bruce spoke. "I'll leave the antiseptic and stuff you need to keep his wound clean here," he said, "and some extra thread, for you never know..."

"Let's hope it doesn't get that far... and I think I really should tie Loki up, it'd spare me a lot," he sighed, to which Bruce just shrugged a little.

"I'm sorry that the burden has fallen to you," Bruce spoke and Tony knew that Bruce had dealt with a lot himself. 'Trust me, I've tried', he'd said when it came down to getting rid of the big guy. Well, Tony decided not to linger on that.

"It's not a burden," Tony replied. "I don't mind, I just don't want to deal with this shit again."

And Bruce took that as Tony saying that he cared about Loki, a lot. "I'll leave you to it," and with that Bruce walked away, leaving Tony and Loki alone in the room once more.

The place was silent, as both Tony, and Loki just sat in silence. Tony paced through the room and sat silently, tapping his foot in mid air, just watching Loki. He then took out Loki's book and the pen and turned to the next empty page that he could find. He then started to write:

_Dear Loki,_

_I have no expectations of you, only of myself. You don't need to live up to any standard to be accepted by me. All your life you have believed that you needed to prove yourself equal, or better, than Thor, but I do not require that from you. I don't require anything, but for you to be happy. I accept you in any way._

_Tell me your story when you wake, I will be at your side._

_Love,_

_Tony._

And so he put the book on Loki's lap, open, so Loki could read it immediately. He wondered if Loki would mind that he'd written in his book, but he paid little mind to it. He wasn't going to get anything else to write into and besides, Tony figured that he deserved to be in that book, now he'd saved Loki's life, again.

Soon Tony found himself sitting in the chair not too far from Loki's bed, watching over the God in the same silence as before, only this time it was perfectly interrupted by the sips of alcohol he took straight out of the bottle. Yes, this was much better. Although, after yesterday's mistake he would be sure not to overdo it again. Great. Loki would keep him from the single most important thing in his life: his drinking habits. He hoped the God was proud he could achieve such a thing, but something told Tony that it would only make things harder for Loki to know this. He did not want the attention, after all. Not this sort of attention, anyway.

About half an hour later Loki finally seemed to wake from his deep slumber. His body would be hurting and probably, deep down, he would be thirsty and hungry. He'd need the energy to heal... Tony didn't stand up from the chair or say anything, when he saw Loki move his hand. The God let out a soft noise, alike a groan. And soon enough he was trying to sit up. Bad idea... but Tony still didn't speak.

Loki then seemed to catch on to what had happened. Hands moved to his chest, but flinched away a moment later. He let out a soft cry, as it certainly pained him, but nothing else, nothing more... Then he grabbed the book and Tony's heart skipped beat. He was hidden in the shadows and he was doing such a good job of keeping silent that the God was perfectly unaware. Green eyes scanned the page and not a minute later the book was put down again and to Tony's horror Loki was crying.

Not just the occasional tear. No. He was actually crying, close to sobbing out loud. His shoulders shook with the impact and that clearly caused him to cry only more as his body was so very hurt. Tony waited for a moment, suddenly feeling quite the intruder. But then he got up, having put the bottle down on the ground. It was almost empty anyway. He moved forward and without giving Loki so much as the opportunity to look at him, his arms were around the God, granting him the opportunity to cry onto Tony's shoulder.

"Ssh, ssh, you're okay," Tony whispered comfortingly and soon Loki's cries continued, clearly unstoppable, even with the knowledge that Tony could feel his every shake. "Let it out."

Loki's hands grasped hold of Tony's shirt and he felt how the God shook his head, sobbing freely into Tony's shoulder, wetting it with his tears. He continued to stroke Loki's back, whispering words of reassurance into his ear, pressing kisses to his shoulder, neck, temple, cheek, nose, forehead, lips. He kissed him everywhere, holding him the closest and the firmest, though remaining careful, he'd ever held another. "Loki, shh," he whispered softly, "don't stop until it's all out, don't stop..." he told him, kissing his temple again.

He could cry too, Tony, mainly because he didn't want Loki to be upset, but too because of the alcohol. He wished the alcohol was the main reason, but he knew it wasn't. But Tony didn't cry, for Loki needed him strong, stable. He needed to be the shoulder that Loki had missed his entire life and Loki had enough reasons to need a shoulder. He wondered how Thor could have missed it, but wouldn't mention that, especially not now.

"Shh, try to breathe steadily, Loki, you don't want to get yourself in a panic," he reassured, helping to steady the God's breathing by giving him a clear rhythm to follow with his own breathing. He suddenly felt like a nurse doing so, but he was so much more than that. He was Loki's, even though he'd never admit that, and Loki was his, for without him Loki would be dead now. He would have killed himself, he would have drained. But Tony found him and wanted him to live and thus he was prepared to be this shoulder a lot more often, so Loki could cry on it, for the coming time would be much harder. Loki was going to have to get over his pain, find a way out of the hell that was his own mind...

"I'm going to try to make everything easier for you, Loki, trust me... just keep calm..." he whispered, kissing his temple again.

After another few minutes, his crying died down and slowly Loki was nothing more than an exhausted heap, a face wet and tear streamed, his eyes red and puffy. But Tony didn't mind and thus he just brought him tissues and helped him sit comfortably. "Don't touch the gauzes," he said as Loki's fingers fiddled with the bandages around his chest, which protected the stitches, for now.

Loki stopped and took the tissues and the glass of water Tony had given him, which Tony helped him drink. "I meant what I said, in that letter," he said, his voice softer than normal and not in any way intimidating. "I want to know your story and I will tell you mine."

Loki didn't reply, but he didn't have to. Tony understood that it would require a lot of effort for the God to manage to say anything, after everything that had happened and all the crying he'd done. Besides, the crying itself already had said so much... He'd let so much out that Tony could hardly blame him for not having a single thing to say.

"I can imagine you're still tired, but you've probably had enough of sleeping," Tony said, bringing the subject to more substantial matters for the moment. Certainly having Loki in this tired state wasn't going to help what would already be a difficult conversation. Besides, Loki first needed to concentrate on healing psychically, before Tony even dared to start about the mental stuff.

"I don't want to go crazy," Loki finally whispered, as Tony had started to comfort him by playing with his hair once more.

"Well, too late for that," Tony replied, jokingly, though quite honestly so. "Besides, it's not about being crazy or not, it's about knowing what you can and can't live with and dealing with the latter."

"Is that so?" Loki asked, somewhat sarcastically, though in a way intrigued as well.

"Yes, that's definitely so."

"We'll see," he said after a moment of silence, as he was trying to understand what Tony had truly meant with the words. There was always something you could do to make it better and the solution to not wanting to live with something was not death, but dealing with whatever this something was and either making it go away, forget about it or make it into something else.

"It's going to be hard," Tony said, "but not impossible."

"Don't tell me about impossible," Loki replied. "My whole life should have been impossible, yet here I still am."

"And forever bound to that one destiny. Is that what you're going to say?" Tony asked.

"My point seems fixed, yes. My destiny seems to bring ill with me wherever I walk. No matter the serenity in my heart and the good will on my mind. I am _destined_to be evil."

"Then deal with it."

"How? Is it fair to continuously cause suffering, for the sake of feeling alive?"

"We'll find a way to make it work. We will. Besides, you don't sound evil now."

"Actions speak louder than words. Of all people, you should know this." And Tony did and he knew the God was right.


	13. Chapter 13) The Silver Demon

**A/N: Thank you very much to you all that are still reading!**

**Chapter Thirteen) The Silver Demon**

He was getting Loki to walk around again and Bruce had come back to redo Loki's stitches, during which Loki needed to be held firmly as they weren't sure what full anaesthetics would do to him. Afterwards, as he'd literally needed to tie Loki down, they had a flaming row after which Loki had tried to run away. And by running away, Tony meant running out of the living room and wanting to jump down. Was it not for his fear of falling, he may have jumped.

It was after that, when the tension had cooled, that Tony ordered a Chinese take-away, a type of food Loki was not yet familiar with, and set it all on the coffee table, for he didn't want to force Loki to sit on one of the hard dinner table chairs. He filled a plate for Loki and dressed it with one of the hot sauces, though only a little bit, for he didn't know whether Loki would enjoy it all that much. "There you go," he spoke, giving Loki the plate. They ate in silence and thus Tony decided to put the news on, which he usually just got a quick update on via Jarvis, though seeing at the artificial intelligence had been set to pay a close eye on Loki, Tony was going to have to check the news himself.

_'In the south of Japan, a man, whose real name we do not know, has arisen under the name 'Silver Demon'. He claims to be a super villain, inspired by the recent events in Manhattan. He has destroyed at least seven factories and is planning to become the true leader of the Yakuza, better known as the Japanese mafia. With his 'army', as he calls it, he strives to put the people in their place. The American politicians, including the President, have been taken to a safe environment, as have the politicians, kings and queens from other countries throughout the entire world. Now to reporter Kim Chow in Kumamoto, where the Silver Demon has arisen.'_

Tony's eyes widened, though he continued to eat, needing to fill his stomach before the nervousness hit him too hard and he could properly throw up. "Who is that?" Loki asked. Tony had paused the news before the Kim Chow woman started to talk.

"Danger, that's what," he spoke. "It's a live report, the first, I assume," he spoke, looking at Loki slightly nervously.

He pressed the button to resume the show, which revealed a Japanese woman, standing atop a building with smoke coming from others around the city._ 'All office buildings and homes have been evacuated as the Japanese police try to capture the Silver Demon. What the reporter did not mention was that the president of Japan had been taken into imprisonment by said Yakuza. It has been announced that a speech will be made when they reach Tokyo. Helicopters are already on their tail, but they cannot spot the Silver Demon yet. This is truly the time to stay inside and safe, certainly if you are in Japan.'_

Tony turned to Loki, who looked slightly shocked by the news. "Does this happen regularly?" Loki asked.

"What? That someone tries to claim ultimate power over authorities?" he asked. Loki nodded. "People campaign," Tony joked. "No, this doesn't happen often. In fact, you're the only one here that sought out world domination and actually had a chance at winning. I don't know about this guy, though, I'd like to get a chance at checking him out myself."

His phone started ringing, to which he excused himself and picked it up. "Pepper," Tony spoke.

"Don't you dare go anywhere," she said the moment she heard he'd picked the phone up. "Stay inside, Stark, don't you dare even attempt to get on that plane to Japan to try and solve this. You need to stay here."

"Which plane?" Tony asked, to which he looked at Loki and frowned. Pepper let out a sarcastic laugh and he could hear that she was pacing frantically. "Pepper, what's going on?"

"You don't know?" she then asked. "That superguy from Japan!" she exclaimed. Tony waited for her to actually tell him something new. "SHIELD just called me."

"Ah..." he started. "They surely have a brilliant timing. I'll get Jarvis to call them back. It's okay, don't worry, stay home. Okay, Pepper," he said, trying to reassure her while he himself was almost literally going crazy.

The moment he put the phone down he was shouting Jarvis' name to get him to phone SHIELD. Why hadn't Jarvis let the announcement through?!

"It is an emergency meeting," Jarvis then explained. "You are requested at SHIELD and you are asked to bring 'the God Loki' with you."

"Well then," Tony said, taking another few bites. It wouldn't be all too long before he would give in to nausea and hang over his toilet, not wanting to go anywhere and have to deal with this. "Let's get suited up then," he said, looking at Loki, who frowned at him in a startled manner.

"They want me to help?" Loki then asked and Tony just gave a shrug, stepping towards him, softly patting his shoulder, then kissing his lips firmly.

"I guess it's your lucky day, after all."

"How do you know they want me to help?" Loki then went on, clearly not believing in 'lucky days'. "For all we know it's just a setup to get me back in their stupid prison!"

"Well, only one way to figure out," he said, throwing the leftovers into the bin before he went to indeed get suited up. He realized that he was leaving Loki, who was still trying anything to kill himself, alone and thus hurried his pace. When he returned, however, Loki was simply staring at the television and listening to the ongoing reports.

"I'm not going to SHIELD," he said, when Tony had stepped into the room again, wearing his suit.

"Why not? Scared they might hurt you?" Tony asked mockingly, although he knew it wouldn't be an irrational fear at all.

"I want nothing to do with them."

"I know, but you have no choice. Now come." He couldn't let Loki here on his own. He didn't trust the God at all! He wouldn't risk it. But neither could he ignore the meeting, not when it was this important. "Now!"

"I'm not here to be ordered by you, Stark!" Loki snapped in reply and a moment later he got up of the couch and was stepping towards him.

"I'm not going to leave you on your own," Tony replied, trying to remain calm, although he realized he was losing precious time. "I don't want to find you dead."

"It's so good to know you-" Loki started sarcastically, but Tony was quick enough to shush him.

"Curse, remember, don't want that now."

"You have no fate in me, that's why you don't want to leave me alone. Have you any idea how that feels?"

"I don't care. Now, come." He did a few steps towards Loki, who automatically stepped back. Although, if things got serious Tony would have the upper hand, no doubtfully. Loki couldn't do a thing with the severe damage his body had suffered. Possibly that meant that the only reason SHIELD wanted Loki to come along _was_ to put him in a cell again. Well, then that was how things would have to be for the time being, until Tony could save him once more and give them all a lesson they wouldn't easily forget. A non-violent lesson, of course. Well... not brutally violent, anyway.

"I will not!" Loki replied angrily. "You cannot make me."

"I can, actually," Tony said. "That's just not how I wish for things to be." But it seemed the God wasn't going to leave him much choice.

"You don't care about me at all," Loki then sneered. Oh, so they were going to get personal, were they? Loki was going to toy with his emotions?

"Don't even dare going there," Tony replied, a firmness in his voice that usually went with his finger pointed, but he figured that keeping respect for Loki was needed in this 'conversation'. "You need to realise that I'm doing this because I _do _care," Tony spoke.

"You don't trust me! Not one bit!" Loki shouted, his voice turning fierce.

"I'm scared you'll try to take your life again, for fuck's sake, and I cannot let that happen! Do you hear me?! I cannot let that happen. You live, that's the rule, whether you like it or not and if that means you have to come with me to SHIELD, then that's the way it is. Because I, Loki, care," he spoke. "Now get your fucking suit on and don't even dare utter a word about it not being fair. Because I can give you a _lot _of examples of what isn't fair!" he shouted, his voice incredibly angry.

He could see Loki's eyes almost literally burst into flames at his words and he felt incredibly guilty for shouting at him like that, but he didn't know any other way. Loki just had to accept the truth and deal with it. Strangely enough, he felt like a mother... Great, now look what he was turning into...

"I'm certain you can't keep an eye on me at all times," he replied harshly, though his voice had turned to a whisper. "And I'll make use of that. Mark my words; I _will_."

"Fine, fine, now hurry," Tony replied, although he hated to hear Loki talk like this, for it was true. Loki would do anything to make another attempt on his life, especially now Tony was making such a big deal out of it. It was childish, almost, but it wasn't childish at all. This was Loki trying to escape from the fine confines of a prison that had been set up all around him.

About another five minutes later they were finally on their way.

Tony flew Loki there, as taking a car in his suit was uncomfortable and the streets were way too busy to get to SHIELD quickly, and thus he had Loki's firm grip on him, holding him tightly as he blasted their way through the air to SHIELD. He kept them hovered above the building for a reason he didn't approve of himself. He made his mask move up, then leaned towards Loki, his iron arm still around his waist, moving closer to press their lips together softly. It was awkward because of the helmet, but it worked, it was okay. "Whatever happens, I will come for you," he whispered softly while looking into Loki's eyes.

Loki only looked back in an annoyed manner, still clinging onto Tony, but Tony knew that somewhere he could see a sparkle of gratefulness. Pulling the mask back down, he flew them both down to the ground, where they were already awaited.

Loki immediately turned cold and jumped about a meter away from Tony as they got to the ground. Tony took his mask off and stepped inside, literally needing to take Loki by the collar to drag him along, who grumbled something under his breath sounding something like: 'I'm going to get you for this.' And Tony was sure that he _would_.

For the moment there were more important things to attend to. He noticed how Loki was standing slightly bend forward, a hand subtly resting on his chest. Yes, it would go unnoticed to most, but not to Tony who knew exactly what was beneath that hand. All the flying and walking probably hurt him more than he even dared to admit to himself. He was in a place that he considered far from safe and who knew what would follow. Tony had no idea what SHIELD wanted Loki for and actually had the feeling that they simply didn't want the God to be left in Stark Tower on his own.

To SHIELD Loki was still a huge risk and for a reason Tony had forgotten to consider that, for he only feared that Loki would take his own life. After all, after their conversations they'd had, Loki didn't want to be evil, but it was forced upon him... Now again, perhaps, it would be forced upon him too. Loki was in no state to join the Avengers in a battle against this 'Silver Demon', for he would be tempted by 'the dark side' as Tony was going to call it from now on. Loki was in no way stable enough to face that, not at all, not even a little bit and thus he just hoped that they'd lock Loki up, but treat him nicely, keep him warm and perhaps even sedated. That would calm him...

"It's okay," he whispered with the softest voice he could manage that only he and Loki would be able to hear. SHIELD did not, yet, attempt to take Loki off him and just guided them along to a conference room.

"We do not want Loki to listen in on what we will be discussing, as he is still our enemy," one of the agents told Tony, as if Loki wasn't even there. It bothered him, but he understood too that the agents felt nothing for talking to Loki personally and as a consequence to be victimized by him, which would no doubtfully happen when one started a conversation with the Silver-Tongued God.

"I don't think he'll be of any threat to us," Tony replied. "I've come to know him quite well and he's actually just a bit confused."

"We cannot allow him into the conference room," the agent said once more.

"I will decide where I shall and shan't be part of," Loki spoke, quite viciously. "You will put Stark in danger, but not me, for you do not trust me. _Listen_ to yourself!"

"Loki," Tony started, though knew damn well the God could not be tamed like that.

"Nor will I listen to you," Loki sneered at Tony, a finger pointed to him. "I do what I want," he sneered. "I know what it feels like to be the bad guy. I know what it feels like to be that Silver Demon or whatever he calls himself," Loki sneered.

"He has a point," Tony said looking down at Loki, now he was taller than Loki in his suit. He found it quite nice, actually.

"Rules are rules, Mister Stark," the SHIELD agent spoke, raising his eyebrows. "He's not allowed in. Your words, though," the agent turned to Loki, "will be taken into consideration."

"Consideration?!" Loki asked, but Tony was already amazed by the fact that the agent had just said that, let alone actually spoken to Loki!

"Don't push it, Loki," Tony spoke, looking into Loki's eyes for a short moment. "I'll see you later," he spoke, gave Loki to the guards, eyeing them cautiously, before entering the conference room.

Loki walked along with the guards, figuring that it was either that or being forced to come along, which was the less preferable way to go about things. He did not want them to touch him, even less than he wanted to be locked away. He could only hope the two wouldn't go together, like they'd done before on previous occasions...

He wondered what would be discussed and wondered too whether Tony would tell him everything afterwards. He _should_, Loki thought, at least. He knew, though, that the only reason he wanted to know about what was going on was so he could possibly help and if he could help, he might be able to win some trust, which was eventually quite an important thing. If he could show SHIELD that he could do good, they might not be so willing to lock him up next time, even if he did deserve it.

He was impatient. He always had been, despite having so much time on his hands. It had been the reason for many of the things he'd done, out of boredom of some sort. And he'd been bored so often. Waiting for something to happen, mostly waiting on Thor... At some point he would simply not wait anymore and make sure to play as many pranks as he could, simply to make life just that little bit harder for Thor. That time was long gone, now. Nothing had remained so innocent...

He was brought into a cell much like the one he'd spent a few days in while under influence of the Tesseract. The memories weren't welcome, but he couldn't get rid of them for the moment.

"You better not be planning anything," he sneered towards one of the agents as he stepped into the room. Of course he was reluctant, but it couldn't get in his way. He couldn't try another escape. He had not the strength and his body was hurt and broken as it was. There was no sense in pushing his limits.

He was locked into the room. Alone, luckily.

Tony, on the other hand, was on his way towards the conference room, where he was met by Clint Barton, Natasha Romanov and Steve Rogers. "Well, hello there. Hadn't expected the reunion to be so soon," Tony said, raising his eyebrows, leaning over the table as he couldn't sit down in his suit.

Nick Fury stood at the head of the table, his arms crossed, screens aligned behind him. Agent Maria Hill stood not too far behind him and another Agent, apparently the replacement of Agent Coulson, sat at the table. "It is the plan to stop this motherfucker," Nick Fury spoke, to which Tony raised his eyebrows a little.

"Seems logical procedure," Tony said, not sure if he wanted to listen to Fury's ramble for the rest of the conference and thus, he walked around the table, raising his hand to motion that all ears should be on him.

"This Silver Demon..." he raised his eyebrows already, "who Jarvis is already doing a scan on, is no danger to us. He is no God, no sorcerer guy, he's just smart and has got a lot of sad little mafia guys standing behind him. We have more," Tony spoke. "I faced Ivan Vanko on my own, along with a lot of other guys, I was fine," he spoke.

"On your own?" Natasha spoke, her eyebrows raising higher. Clint grinned a little. "Not entirely."

"Point is; if I get one guy on my own who was already pretty damn hard, we can get this guy _and_ his army with the lot of us," he spoke.

"What about Loki?" Natasha spoke, her eyes moving between Tony and Fury, though resting on Tony's.

"What about him?" Tony asked, frowning a little.

"Loki is going to be held captive here. We don't know who's side he will pick."

"Loki won't fight against us," Tony spoke, turning to Fury. "He knew how that ended up last time and he's mortal. We'll beat this Silver guy and whether we have Loki on our side or not, we can do it. Though I have the feeling Loki could help pretty well, with his manipulative skills," Tony raised his eyebrows, to which Fury shook his head.

"The risk is too big, Stark, no chance," Fury spoke, to which Tony just shrugged. Well, he was going to have to deal with Loki later then. "The plan is, and Mister Stark, if you'd let me do my job, that'd help," he said, "that we meet the Japanese police and use their force to slow the army this Silver Demon has. While our negotiation does that, you all go after that Silver Demon. Find out where he's hanging, where he's working from."

"Investigate," Steve Rogers spoke, nodding a little. "We can do that."

"Not action-y enough," Tony said, quite unclearly. "Can't we just knock him down and be back for dinner?"

"I don't think underestimating our enemy at this point is what we should be wanting to do," Fury replied and Tony shrugged, figuring it was probably true, but hating that it would mean leaving Loki behind at SHIELD's mercy. They wouldn't do anything with Tony here, he'd made it clear enough that that wasn't what he wanted. But if they'd all gone of to Japan, who was to say who'd rake orders from who. Loki wasn't exactly uninteresting to experiment on... A former God, thousand of years old, cursed with a mortal body, among other things...

"In any case, let's just hurry."

It didn't sit well with him that he'd have to leave Loki behind, but it became apparent that he wasn't going to get any chance of talking anyone into changing their mind. Not even Fury was willing to bend the rules for him, probably because his hatred for Loki went further than any morale. Frankly, no one actually seemed to _care_. Tony couldn't blame them for it, but it didn't sit well with him.

"So, the only reason you ask Loki to come along was to ensure that he wouldn't do anything in my absence?" Tony asked Fury as they had a moment alone, before they'd depart. "I guess I understand that. But let me just make clear there's a big, a very _big_, difference between making sure he doesn't do anything and actually using him for whatever silly investigations you've got going on. Yes?"

"I don't make all the rules, Stark," Fury replied, in that demanding way that only he could muster. "But I believe it is indeed not the intention to do anything with him. He just needs to be locked up, that's all."

"If something happens to him, you'll regret it."

"I don't make all the rules," Fury repeated and it didn't sit well with Tony at all, but he knew too that the only thing he could do was make sure he went back and forth as quickly as he possibly could..

The most annoying part was that they had to pass Loki's cell on the way out of the place, which was slightly unbearable as he saw Loki sitting on the bed, annoyed and someone else in the room, talking to him. He then stopped walking and turned towards the cell. "Give him a book," he said then. "Lots of books and lots of pens. Don't let him rot in this cell," Tony sneered at one of the guards that stood at the door of Loki's cell. He knew Loki wouldn't be able to see, nor hear him, which was a shame. "It's an order. If you don't do it you're going to regret it, now off you go."

"Stark, you can't order people around here," Natasha spoke, who'd waited for him. "You're not even officially a part of SHIELD, let alone..." she let out a soft sigh and shook her head. "If Fury doesn't have full control, then you won't either."

"I don't care, they just better do it," he spoke, looking sideways at Romanov, who raised her eyebrows in an accusing manner. "What are you accusing me of?"

"Of being you," she said, turning a left, then heading towards the private land behind SHIELD's facility.

"Now, Avengers," Fury spoke and Tony was wondering where Banner was in all this. Was he going to join in? "You have an hour to get some stuff from your home, but you will be back here afterwards," Fury spoke. "It's a deal, now, off you go ladies, we've got serious business to attend."

And so Stark was off home, where he packed not only a lot of his clothes, a suit, extra shoes, but made a box with books that he owned. Dracula, Alice in Wonderland, Shakespeare, Hemmingway, it was all there. In it, he tossed lots of pens, got Jarvis informed of his plan and ordered Pepper to sit the place until he was back, which was their deal.

He got in his suit and made Jarvis send the reserves with him compactly. Then he was back to where he'd left. The suit unraveled from his body and formed a suit-case shaped chest, which he grabbed and took towards Fury. "Enough space for all this cargo?" he asked, holding the box of books under his arm. Fury shrugged a little, implying that it was going to have to fit.

He then turned around and walked back into the building, returning to the guard he'd addressed so angrily. "Give this to him," he spoke, getting a pen from inside the box and scratching 'Loki' into it. "Get it?" he pointed into the cell. "Loki, now, chop chop, go inside, go give it to him," he said and waited for the man to actually do so.

It was only after a few moments of hesitation that the man figured it could do no harm. "We need to check the books first," he said.

"There are no weapons in there, if that's what you're on about," Tony said. "Well- get to it then." He was growing more and more impatient and he knew that that meant he was getting snappier and snappier. Not necessarily the best of moods to be in when trying to get someone to do what you want them to do. Soon they were indeed checking the books, looking through them quickly and looking through the box. Of course they found nothing. "Great, now give it to him. Better still," he said, while grabbing the box, "let me give it to him."

That actually seemed to make the agent feel a little less uncomfortable. Ah, so they were all scared of Loki. Not necessarily the best of things, as that meant they'd hurt him when he tried anything. He stepped inside once the door opened and Loki's eyes immediately looked up. He saw the fear in them disappear quickly as Loki saw who the intruder was, however.

"Seeing as you'll have to stay here for a little while, I figured I'd bring you this," Tony said and he put the box down next to Loki on the bed, who looked at it quickly, though didn't open it to see what was inside, before looking up at Tony again.

"What do you mean 'a little while'?" he asked. "I can't stay here! These people hate me!"

"I know, but there is no other way," he said, hoping that Loki would actually understand this. That Loki would know that Tony had tried his best to come up with another option. "I'm going to try my hardest to be back in time," he added. "In the meantime, you can read."

"What if they take them away?" Loki asked.

"They-" He wanted to tell Loki that they wouldn't, but frankly he couldn't be sure. SHIELD wasn't known for their honesty, after all. For all Tony knew they were just pretending to keep him here, when in fact they had different plans in mind. "You're _Loki_," Tony replied then. "You have been through more than probably all the agent together have been. You can pull through anything. Just stay strong."

And with that, he was off.

When they were on the plane, Natasha, Clint, Steve, Nick, Tony and Bruce, they were quite silent for the beginning of the trip as they watched the news on the Silver Demon. "We can do something more fun, you know, guys," he said, raising his eyebrows a little bit. "This is an I don't know how many hour long trip and we're watching the news?" he asked. "I hope somebody brought scotch."

"No, we purposely didn't bring scotch," he said, to which Tony growled.

"Who thought of that? Who thought that that would be funny, hm?" he asked, his eyes narrowing.

"I did," Fury responded. "I don't want you drunk on my flight, or when you get there, Stark. We've got important stuff to do, we need you to keep your act together."

"So when I drink I'm unreasonable?"

"When you drink, you get drunk and when you're drunk you're unreasonable," Bruce then butted in. "You shouldn't drink so much."

"I'll decide that for myself, thank you very much," Tony sneered, although there wasn't much he could decide at the moment, as there wasn't any alcohol. Great... He should've thought to bring some himself. "I'm not even all that bad," he said then, just wanting to get that out there.

"No, but you can be," Bruce replied.

"Like you'd know," Tony replied, before he figured they might as well drop all the passively aggressive topics. It wouldn't do their long journey much good, after all.


	14. Chapter 14) Literature

**Chapter Fourteen) Literature**

Loki had waited quite a while before opening the box, for he knew he was watched and he didn't want to come across too excited to get to the books. He didn't want it to be used against him. But when he did open the box, he wanted to smile, though didn't for quite obvious reasons. He saw books that he'd read before, like 'Romeo and Juliet', which he had enjoyed, for he found all literature amusing. There were lots of books, lots of new ones that he did not know and as he looked at the dates in the books, he figured that nobody had brought back books from Earth for a very long time. The date on one of them was very recent, at which, again, he wanted to smile and he turned to the first page. It was a book called 'Harry Potter', which he hadn't ever heard of before.

After the first chapter, he was very amused, but the people watching him were not. The door opened and a woman stepped inside. "Are you enjoying yourself?" she asked him, to which he just let a frown form on his face in quite an accusing manner. How dare she ask about whether he was enjoying himself? "It's not a difficult question."

"Enjoyment isn't very easy to achieve while locked up," Loki spoke. "But you could say that I am amused," he added, a small grin playing on his lips.

"What are you reading?" she then asked, stepping forwards. "Do you like reading?"

"It's none of your business, none of it is," he spoke, closing his book and putting it into the box, shutting it. "If you would leave me in my peace, that would be appreciated," he said. He might as well try the calm way before he got aggressive, right?

"Whether it's any of our business we'll decide ourselves," she replied and he didn't like how she spoke for the whole lot of SHIELD agents, as that meant they were still as a whole against him. Sure, it was logical and he wouldn't actually have it any other way, but it would be nice to have the idea that he was actually talking to a person, not a part of a bigger picture. That wasn't too interesting at all. "Why do you like reading?"

"I only play this game of asking with one and he has recently departed for Japan," he replied. That thought certainly didn't sit well with him. He ought to be there! What if something happened and he wouldn't be there to help... Not that he could do much. Not that he should even want to do anything! But still... Tony had done so much for him. If only he still had his Godly powers. The distance would provide no problem at all. This room would be no prison to his magic. But he couldn't allow himself to think like that, as it would only result in horrible thoughts.

"You mean Stark," the woman stated, as if she was mentally incapable to keep the thoughts to herself. The actual reason she spoke them out loud was probably to provoke a reaction in Loki, who was perfectly capable at hiding them.

"Of course," he stated emotionlessly.

"What is your bound with Tony Stark?" she asked. The door had shut behind her and had locked, which was the only reason he didn't try to think of any good plots. Sure, he could harm this woman, but she had a gun and they would be too quick in strapping him down for him to do any real damange. It wasn't worth it, at any rate.

"There is no bound," Loki replied, "but certain games require the right players. It does not require kinship, if that is what you are referring too."

"He brought you these books and you wished to accompany him to Japan, to help him."

"You assume a lot."

"I am merely trying to understand," she replied, trying on a sudden friendlier course. It wasn't working. Loki was not easily impressed by such things, after all the tricks he'd played on people. He'd not left a single act untouched, which meant he saw through most of the tricks people played on him. He'd learned the hard way that it was absolutely essential to distrust, after all.

"Perhaps I do not wish to help you understand," he replied.

"It might take quite a while for Stark to return. You might consider it a good idea to cooperate."

"And why would that be, I wonder?" Loki asked, a smirk playing on his lips, as he felt the fear take over. "You wouldn't want to go against the order Stark clearly imposed on you, would you?"

"We will do what must be done," she said.

"Ah, and I am not talking, thus you believe it rightful to make me."

"You are still a danger and your motives are unclear."

"Humanity, as scared of the unknown as anything," he stated, looking away from her, as if he was no longer talking to her, but merely stating his observations out loud.

It stayed silent for a while as he had spoken those words and he had no intention of speaking to the woman, though he found it annoying that he couldn't read on and thus he turned his gaze to hers, his facial expression remaining neutral. "Why do you think I'm going to do any harm?"

"Because you have done in the past. Just because you are now acquainted with Tony Stark, doesn't mean that you are off our list of people we need to keep an eye on," she spoke.

"You have a list for that?" Loki asked in an amused manner.

"Quite literally, yes," she spoke and he let out a soft laugh as it was so typical of these puny humans to keep everything so neat and tidy, in lists and piles. "Do you have a problem with that?"

"Not at all, though I do hope I am at the top of the list," Loki spoke, quite a warming smile on his face. It was all fake however.

"As of late, not anymore," she spoke, "which you could already predict."

"What I do not understand, though, is why one would not let me join in. I am powerful, for if I were not you would not need to lock me up and I would not be here. Though you are fearful of me joining the 'Silver Demon', while at the same time believing that I am acquainted with Tony Stark, who I would then automatically be up against. How does that work, then? Do I sense a... plothole?"

"You are a danger, to anyone and everyone. You are not safe to be roaming free, regardless of the good you can do with your power."

"But what if I truly want to do good with my powers, though never have the chance as I am always suppressed?" he asked, the same toying grin on his face. The stupid thing was that this was the truth, and that was why, exactly why, he wasn't going to be believed.

"Then I would be very sorry and you would be requested to prove your good will," the agent answered.

"In here?" Loki asked, his eyebrows raising.

"Yes, unfortunately," she replied, "for you are not trusted until you prove that we can do otherwise."

He let out a soft chuckle, shaking his head, though in his mind he felt a pang at his heart. Proving good will was not something Loki could do just like that...

"Thank you for your cooperation, Loki," she spoke, turned around, then left the room. Again, not wanting to come over too eagerly, he waited before taking the book, letting out a soft sigh at the idea of Tony being so very, very far away.

In the plane, Tony wasn't thinking much differently. He wondered which book Loki was reading first, which he would write in and what he would write. But mostly he hoped that Loki would be left alone so he could read. He didn't like not knowing what was going on and thus, he was anxiously tapping his foot.

Steve was napping in the chair behind him and Fury kept pacing up and down, phoning people and disappearing into one of the rooms near the cockpit to speak to somebody. Ah, that must be 'the Council', whoever they were...

Natasha and Clint were talking about something he wasn't so sure he found entertaining and Bruce was, perhaps like himself, looking around the plane in silence. Eventually Bruce got up and sat beside Tony, what he hadn't expected, as he hadn't thought that Bruce was thinking of anything at all.

"What do you reckon, this guy?" Bruce asked, nodding at the TV that had by now been put to mute as it was the same thing playing on repeat constantly.

"Yeah..." he shrugged his shoulders, "I don't think he's going to be a problem."

"How's Loki?" Bruce then asked, turning to look at Tony. Tony breathed in deeply, giving another shrug, nodding again.

"Yeah, didn't attempt anything, he's okay," he replied, though knew that Bruce saw that there was more underlying Tony's words than he was telling the other. At times Bruce certainly was too perceptive... Though, he knew too that he would keep the information secret if Tony wished him to, and he did.

"Is 'okay' really the right word?" Bruce asked.

"No," Tony replied, honestly. "I think it's going to be a big problem. Good thing is that we didn't fight a lot anymore, but mostly because I just let him do what he want, except... killing himself, obviously. I also have this strange feeling that he's starting to... well, not like, but like... 'Midgard'."

"Midgard..." Bruce repeated. "You've been hanging out with him too much if you start calling your own planet by it's alien name."

"I know, I know," Tony replied. He didn't need Bruce to tell him he was being obviously pathetic with Loki, but the confrontation didn't help. He preferred to think he still hated the God and didn't care what happened back at SHIELD or that Loki might find something to kill himself with. Tony had never told anyone at SHIELD about Loki's suicidal tendencies, after all... Shit. Perhaps he should've done. No, no, he'd thought about it and it had seemed a really bad idea.

But maybe it wasn't such a bad idea after all...

"You can always call back to see how he's doing, you know," Bruce said.

"What?" Tony replied, as if he was crazy. "And come across like an idiot? I don't think so."

"Or you can see it like coming across like a caring friend," Bruce said. Ah, so typical, yet Tony couldn't deny that he was right. It simply wasn't the way Tony went about things. He didn't do 'caring friend' telephone calls, especially not to SHIELD, especially not concerning Loki.

"Yeah... no," he said softly, shrugging his shoulders and turning his gaze out of the window. "Not sure if that's going to work out," he said, sighing softly. Was it really necessary to keep the alcohol away from him? "I told him to watch out, so..."

"Call him when you arrive in Japan. Since when do you care what people think of you? You're Tony Stark," Bruce spoke.

"Yeah, well, to the people at SHIELD, that doesn't say so much," Tony spoke.

Loki was alone for a long time and he wondered whether that was because they simply didn't want anything to do with him or they didn't know what they did want to do with him. Either way, it didn't sit well with him to just sit here and wait. He didn't know what he was waiting on, after all and that certainly wasn't a nice feeling. There was nothing he could do to change it, however. He simply continued to read, soon forgetting about the time that passed, as the book was taking over his mind one page at a time. He felt merged into the story and it was a good story indeed. There was magic, although of a strange kind and, more importantly, he could relate to the main character.

It was only after quite some time that the door opened again, but only to bring him something to eat. He didn't touch it, not feeling like he could trust these people, though after an hour or so he couldn't deny that he was incredibly hungry, so he had a bite. When nothing seemed to happen he tried another bite. In the end he still had only eaten a small portion, but he was no longer hungry. Tony had continuously told him he needed to eat and drink enough, to make sure the wounds would heal properly and his body had all the strength to get better. It was probably only for that reason that he had eaten... He didn't know whether he should feel good or bad about that.

When, presumably, nighttime came he realized that he would have to sleep in the presence of all these people. He didn't like that at all. He knew he was being watched over at all times and he didn't like prying eyes, especially not when he slept. Thus, he continued to read and tried to ignore his tire.

Eventually, once again, the door opened, which snapped him out of his half-asleep gaze at the small letters on the pages. He looked up, shutting the book, his eyes having seen the number on the page, which he remembered.

"Your night clothing. We assumed you would like something more comfortable," the woman spoke, laying a pile of dark blue, soft pyjamas on the bed. "You will need to change now," she spoke, taking the curtain she held in her arms, attaching it to the ceiling. It was the same woman as before and Loki wondered why she wasn't yet falling asleep. "I'll need to stay, for I can't let you dress without someone watching," she spoke. "Don't worry, I've seen a lot."

"Think again, I'm not dressing," he spoke, looking up at her.

"I'm sorry, but you have no choice. We have to make sure you are looked after and thus you need to stay clean. So change into your nightclothes," she spoke, but he didn't budge.

"I can care for myself," he spoke.

"I know you can, but you're not being given the option in this situation. Cooperate, Loki, and you can go to sleep," she spoke.

"I don't need any sleep," he spoke, annoyance clear in his voice.

"I thought you knew how to look after yourself?" she said, pointing at the pyjamas. "Loki, change, now," she said. "It's only me that can see you and I won't be explicitly looking. Now, please, hurry."

Loki looked up at her, wondering why she truly still thought he was going to cooperate. He wasn't going to get changed in front of her, because he wouldn't show himself to her, to anyone and he didn't want anyone to know of the wound on his chest, the one that was obviously covered by bandages.

He stood there, unmovingly and soon the woman let out an annoyed sigh. Perhaps if he waited long enough she would reconsider and leave him be. But something told him that SHIELD liked to play games with him.

"Loki, do you want me to lose my patience?" she asked warningly and she sounded an awful lot like an angry mother. Loki let out a low growl because of it, but otherwise kept his anger hidden.

"I do not care for your patience, but your presence restricts me from changing, thus I will not. Nothing will change my mind and it is something you will have to accept." Was it truly such a crime to let him keep his own clothes on? It wasn't like he was actually dirty, as he hadn't done anything all day! He'd just been sitting here... So, for the purposes of looking after him this really didn't need to happen. Certainly they knew this too.

"Rules are rules," she said.

"Who makes these delirious rules and is it not so that _sense_ can prove rules wrong?" he sneered.

"Not in your case," she replied determinedly and Loki was truly losing his temper, which was something he knew he shouldn't do. He couldn't allow them to get to him and having another breakdown in front of them would certainly provoke a reaction from their side that Loki did not wish to encounter. "You will make this so much harder for yourself if you do not listen."

"I will not listen to you, woman," he spoke snappily, belittling her clearly. He did a step towards her, intimidatingly. "Your senseless rules mean naught to me and will not apply. Do you understand?"

"Undress, or I will taser you and undress you myself," she spoke, her eyebrows raised.

"You dare threaten a God in such a way?" Loki asked, his eyebrows raised in an accusing manner.

"But you no longer are a God, Loki. You have no magic and thus; yes, I will," she spoke. "Now do as I say, or suffer the consequences."

"When I redeem my magic, you will be the first I will punish," he spoke, his eyes narrowed.

"Is that you giving into the rules?" she asked, her hand resting on the taser on her belt.

"No, it is me warning you. Any wrong move and you will be condemned to your dea-" and so he was tasered and when he woke up, he indeed had been changed. The pyjamas smelled strangely and he hated it, he hated it all and he wanted to curl up, he wanted Tony and warmth, he wanted the coffee that Tony brought him, or the warm sticky sweet stuff that Tony made with a slice of cake, he wanted it all... he wanted to be home...

But where was home? The Tower? Asgard? Jotünheim? None were his home and then suddenly he realised that he had no home, no definitive place to stay regardless of the offers the people made. He had no place of his own, no real place to stack the books he liked, where he could keep the ornaments that he found beautiful...

He pulled the covers further over him, letting out a shaky breath as he felt his eyes sting. No, he couldn't do this, he couldn't... There seemed no stopping it, however. So, he pulled the covers even further over him, covering his head entirely and slowly dared to let the tears slip. He made no noise and tried to listen out for any that might indicate someone entering the room. He continuously dried his eyes and face, so he wouldn't be too obviously crying if someone would suddenly pull the covers away.

So, a day had passed and he was already losing it in here.

After a few minutes he managed to contain himself and he got up not too long afterwards. He looked down at the stupid pyjamas, trying not to think of what it meant that he was wearing them. Probably she hadn't dressed him on her own. She must've had help, which meant that it was even worse than it could've been. He wondered what they'd said to each other, what they'd seen. He wonderd what they'd made of the bandages that covered his chest. Had they taken a peek? He let his fingers run over his chest, though knew he couldn't check to see if the bandages had been moved, as it meant giving them another look. He felt watched and couldn't even see who was watching him. It drove him into severe anxiety, that he made sure he didn't show.

Now what? Would he spend the rest of the day in here again, with little to nothing happening, without knowing whether Tony was actually alright. How much time had passed? He couldn't be sure, which frustrated him only more. Couldn't they have at least giving him a clock or something? That would've at least toned down some of the worst nerves. Perhaps they wanted him disorientated. It wouldn't be the first time such methods were used to torture him. He'd often been ridden of either one of his senses or abilities and often he'd been placed in spaces that gave no indication of location, just to drive him that bit more crazy. This seemed similar, only these puny people didn't scare him enough to actually cause him to lose it. He was just annoyed.

The moment they touched ground and Tony had a moment alone, he found himself getting his phone out and dialling SHIELD's number. "This is Stark," he spoke as a tough sounding secretary picked up the phone. "I wish to hear what's going on with Loki," he spoke.

"I'm sorry, I don't go about such matters," the woman replied.

"I'm Tony Stark, give me to someone who does know," he said, already getting impatient. Would it be like it was in jail? One phone call? He wondered...

"Hello, this is agent-"

"Yeah, hi, Tony Stark, let me speak to Loki," Tony said, looking around him, pacing slightly aggressively.

"I cannot let anyone speak to one of the captives," the agent replied.

"Loki is not a captive and prisoners get phone calls too. Now give him to me," he spoke.

"Rules are rules," she answered and Tony let out a loud sigh. He could see from a distance that they were unpacking the aeroplane and that he should help, but this was more important.

"And rules are there to be broken. Now give him to me, it'll do no harm and I cannot stop this Silver Demon guy when I'm worried. So _give _him to me, _now_."

He heard voices in the background and eventually, he heard doors and a bit of movement, Loki's name and then there was silence. "Loki?" he asked. It was quite strange, for he'd never spoken to him over a phone before.

"Stark..." Loki replied, his voice cold, which showed Tony that the God wasn't all too happy.

"I'm calling to see how you're doing," Tony said, trying to get in as much in as little time.

"I'm fine," he replied. "Apart from the fact that I'm talking into a strange device to my top enemy." Obviously someone was standing before him and probably someone was listening into the line. Ah, so he needed to be careful with his words.

"Are you enjoying the books?" Tony carried on, although he had to snigger, picturing Loki's discomfort with phones. He got an 'hm' in return and figured that was a yes. Tony let out a soft sigh. "I'm safe, in Japan. We're heading to one of the Japanese bases now that they've lent us. Then we're going after this Demon guy," he said. "I'll keep you posted if these people let me speak to you."

"Yes," Loki replied and Tony let out another sigh, as he knew there was more Loki would say, could he speak his mind. It was certainly frustrating, but there was so little he could do about it. He could hardly tell Loki to simply ignore that SHIELD was listening it, for he couldn't even ignore it himself.

"Take care in there. I'll try to be back as soon as possible and rid you from that captivity."

"You better..." Loki replied and Tony smiled a little, though knew it was more out of hope than out of actual happiness. "That is to say; you'll regret it if you do not."

"Ah, I'm certain that's the case," he replied, granting Loki the satisfaction of an actual threat. "Oh, before I go. What're you reading?"

"Does it matter?" Loki replied, clearly not wanting to admit he was reading at all. Tony laughed softly.

"I want to know."

"You mortals all have a strange concept of magic," Loki replied. Ah, so that's what he was reading. "It's... amusing."

"I'm glad you like it," Tony replied and found himself smiling quite genuinely at that. "Well, I better get going, then," Tony spoke. "You're reading the first book of a series of seven, I'll get you the rest when I'm back," he said, smiling.

Loki stayed silent for a while, "...fine."

Tony laughed softly. "Have a nice day, princess," and so he hung up, picturing the look on Loki's face at his remark.

Loki had been about to snap at that, though right when he was about to do so the phone started beeping and after a moment he realized that that must mean that Tony had hung up, which lead to him having no way of responding to the degrading remark, that SHIELD had listened in on. How dare he?!

The phone was snatched away from him, but he didn't look up at the agent that took it. He only hoped that he'd get to talk to Tony again soon, for he needed to put him back in his place. This wasn't acceptable. The only thing he could do was hope Tony wouldn't actually die in this fight, for he would not never forgive him if that was so.

"So, you're probably hungry," one of the agents said. "As you haven't had much of your dinner last night."

"I'm fine," he replied, as it wasn't a lie. He wasn't hungry, although he knew he should be. Indeed, he'd not had a lot and he did feel strangely weak, which indicated that he should eat, yet he wouldn't come across eagerly. He _wasn't_ eager.

In Japan, Tony was suiting up, as were the others. Tony didn't exactly believe that they should all get to investigation and that they should stop the ralleys that were already going on. Besides, the Silver Demon was flying around somewhere and they were going to have to catch him.

Tony, Steve and Clint were off into the city, while Fury and Romanov got to the investigation and Bruce...? Well, Bruce just stayed back. He was their emergency call, pretty much... They weren't going to get the hulk in and ready to destroy Tokyo or any other major city in Japan. Yes, having him as plan B worked and as he stayed behind, he could research.

It wasn't easy flying Hawkeye to one of the roofs, while holding Captain America still to take to the right place on the ground. Nope, it wasn't all that easy at all. "Okay, you're going to have to stay on the ground and calm these people as the panicking civilians aren't helping," Tony spoke to Steve, which he found funny as he was always the one to give orders. "Try to get the police to do their work well, I'll fly around and try to get my eye on something silver, though perhaps Hawkeye was better at that...

Well, Tony had the advantage of being up high and manoeuvring wherever he wanted, which certainly was a freedom. And what would they do if they found him? Try to take him down? If it would truly be that easy, then certainly he wasn't still running lose, was he? Ah well, nothing wrong with taking a peek here and there, before getting to the real action. That's more or less how they'd got Loki in the end too. Although, that was more a prison break, perhaps. If only Loki would be so lucky now... He didn't deserve that cell this time, although Tony figured that perhaps he did, as he had done quite a bit of damage. But he hadn't been himself fully and he'd been punished more than severely for it already. Perhaps that just made him dangerous, though, but that was a thought he'd leave for later. At the moment Loki didn't have his powers, which meant he wouldn't even be half as dangerous than he could be. Besides, he was out to kill himself, not rule the world. To Tony that made him more dangerous, but to SHIELD... not so much. It was a difficult thought to process; that many would actually be glad to get rid of him, but it was a logical thought too and he'd simply have to accept that most would agree that a world without Loki might just be a better one.

He had been flying for over half an hour without a glimpse of anything silver. He was overlooking the streets to find any logic in the way the masked mafia were acting, but couldn't pinpoint it. What was the motivation behind this Silver Surfer's attack? Suddenly, without having seen it coming, something hit his suit, which knocked him backwards and made his repulsors stop, causing him to drop. He regained himself soon enough and looked around, trying to find where it had come from. It had come from above, surely.

"Found something suspicious," Tony spoke, knowing the rest could hear it. "I'm going after it," he said, flying upwards as he had that idea that it had come from above, he couldn't however actually see where it was. "Jarvis? Boost up the sensors, whatever this is, it's not so funny," he spoke, looking around before flying on.

"Yes sir," Jarvis replied, to which he sped up and tried to figure out where the blast had come from. Was this the Silver Demon, then? Was he invisible, like SHIELD's ship was?

"Pinpoint this location on a map somewhere, before they kill me off and you can never find my body," he said, into the communication device. He got an affirmative from Bruce, who clearly didn't like the sound of Tony talking about being killed off.

"Just remember you have a God to save after this," was the reply he got after a few moments. That was right when his hand connected to the surface and Jarvis popped up a rather detailed view of the thing he'd just come in contact with.

"Found it," Tony said, although he wasn't too sure what he'd found. "Seems they're hovering a ship above this city. Quite a big one. Quite a dangerous one. I think I should abort mission, but I also think I'm too late."

"What are you going on about, Stark?" Romanov said, wanting a more straight forward description of the situation, obviously. He couldn't quite give it, though.

"Just, hurry up and get your ass over here. I'm going to need some help. Soon."

All the while Jarvis was making calculations about the ship he was still flying close to. At least if he stayed close to it, he wouldn't easily be shot out of the air. At least; that was his view on the matter. Here was to hoping he was right...

Tony's hands moved up and as he flew a little higher, he felt his hands touch something, though couldn't actually see anything. "Jarvis, do a scan so I can see a model of this thing. How big is it?" he asked, trying to fly in a direction he believed the ship didn't go in to he could activate his scanner.

This did, however, make him raise his arm in an attacking manner. He wasn't exactly sure how that would take and moments later, a small missile left the invisible field of 'ship' and eventually, even as he flew off, started to tail him.

"Oh dear, have a problem," he said. "Clint, coming your way, be ready," he spoke, telling Jarvis to power up his repulsors so he could outrun, or outfly, the missile. He was a little worried about this, though figured that panicking wasn't all too good of an idea.

"Sir, the scan is incomplete. The image of the scanned ship is as follows:" Jarvis spoke and an image popped into view, which showed him the enormous ship. He raised his eyebrows and flew only faster. Of course he didn't have the entire ship, which worried him, but this gave an idea.

"Jarvis, send it to Bruce," he spoke, to which he got an affirmative answer. Now his full focus was on getting to Hawkeye on time. "Almost there..." he said, flying faster, finding Clint and going towards him. "No time for a mistake here, Barton," he spoke, not wanting to get burnt by a bleeding missile...

But of course Clint made no mistakes and not a moment too soon the missile erupted into explosion, just out of reach. Ah, that was better. Still, though, they had that enormous ship to deal with.

"Well, that went well," Tony said, while he was flying towards Clint to land next to him. He looked into the direction the ship was in, feeling quite relieved to be away from it, though they weren't save yet. "So, I think I alerted them to our presence. Now what?"

"We need better organization. It's not about size, it's about planning," Steve spoke.

"Yeah, tell that the heat detecting missiles," Tony replied, though he was keen to hear whatever plan Steve had in mind. "Just please tell me we're taking Bruce along."

"Of course," Steve replied, which caused Tony to smirk. At least with Bruce there he was certain nothing could get to them. The Hulk was invincible, after all. Well, for the most part, anyway.

"Good," Tony said, although he knew Bruce would have some objections to make. Though, even then, Bruce wouldn't let them go aboard this invisible ship on their own. "We'll be fine."


	15. Chapter 15) Fantasy and Fiction

**A/N: Warning, the following chapter contains mature content.**

**Chapter fifteen) Fantasy and Fiction**

It hadn't exactly been a pleasant day, but it passed. He couldn't stop his mind wandering to where Tony might be, what he might be doing and if he was okay. Why did he worry so much about his enemy? Why did he want to hear from him and why did he hope that every time the door opened, it was because Tony was wanting to speak to him through that stupid phone. He let out a sigh, knowing that he'd be called within an hour to be taken to the showers. They said they wouldn't have to look at that, but that they'd guard the door. He hated it, he felt so belittled, like he was once again the child that knew nothing better than the rest of them...

He let out a sigh, no longer focused on the book that was before him. All these people here had been through much less than he had. He wanted to die, he wanted to end his life, even just for the reason that those stupid memories kept recurring. He didn't want them, he didn't want to dwell in those thoughts of misery. But he had no way of escaping, not here. Every time he entered the room, everything was checked and he was watched at every single minute of the day. Even when he was sleeping he was being watched. He knew that for certain.

He liked the book and he had almost finished it. He would have, would he not let himself dwell into his own thoughts. He hated it, how the story kept being interrupted by his own sudden panic that Tony may be in danger, that Tony may never come back... But he knew that he couldn't dwell on that and mostly the story was good enough to keep him from it... just not always.

He had lost himself in the book again and just a few seconds before the door opened, he snapped out of the trance, somehow knowing that someone was approaching. He felt like a small child, being told when to do this and when to do that. He was told when he could shower, when he _had _to shower and when he needed to eat and how much he needed to eat. Was there nothing he could decide himself?! He wondered how to approach the matter, for he was overpowered by the amount of agents. He could either work along to gain their trust and hope for them to give him more freedom, though risk them enjoying his cooperation fully. Or he could decide to fight against everything they made him do, which may make this all a lot more painful, but at least made sure that he thought he was keeping some... dignity, some self worth, which he didn't actually have. It was all just a mask...

"You can come and shower now," the now familiar agent spoke. But what if he was in the middle of a chapter? What if he needed to finish reading? What if the book would be gone by the time he returned?

He glared at her, shutting the book and putting it back into the box, which he closed neatly before he got up. He gave a short nod towards the woman, who let two guards enter before leaving herself, expecting Loki to follow her, one guard on each side to make sure he didn't lash out. Oh, this was all so wonderful... _so _wonderful!

It was worse when he got to the shower, as the guards stayed and he was pushed into a cubicle with a tower where he was supposed to shower. How was he going to do this with his wound this painful?! He let out a soft noise as the woman spoke: "Are you undressing yet? You don't have much time." To that, he sighed. He didn't want this, not even a little bit. He didn't want to get changed with someone so close, nor even focus on showering, or his wound. Couldn't they just leave him alone?!

After a few minutes, he slowly started to undress, though it hurt as when he bent to pull down his trousers, he instantly felt pain through his chest, making him gasp. "Loki..." the woman spoke. "If you don't hurry, I'm going to have to make you," she spoke, to which he indeed hurried and switched the water on, after having to look at it for ages. The water, however, was hot, burning his skin and he flinched backwards, it hurting a lot. He was naked and he hated it, he hated it all.

"Are you showering?" the woman asked.

"Yes," he replied, though he wasn't actually, for it was too hot. He couldn't see how he had to change the temperature and thus he let out a sigh. "The water is too hot."

"It's standard temperature," the woman replied, to which he sighed. He couldn't shower in this! He couldn't even... He could hardly stand in the steam that was coming off it. He hated this! Why couldn't he just be at Tony's, where he could shower at the temperature he wanted, where Tony might even help him clean the wound?!

"I can't shower in this," he spoke.

"No exceptions, Loki, don't be ridiculous, this is just normal temperature," the woman replied, to which he sighed. He already felt bad that he needed to ask about the temperature, that he apparently was too weak to handle this, that people found him ridiculous... He moved his hand out and saw how his skin reddened gradually at the heat. He stepped closer, seeing how there were bottle at the side of the shower, with the words: 'SHAMPOO', 'CONDITIONER' and 'SOAP' on it. He sighed, feeling like a child, once again...

He let the water run over him, accepting the way it hurt his skin. It wouldn't burn him, but it burnt all the little nerve endings, making them sensitive. It actually gave him goosebumps... As the water ran over his shoulders and down his front, he wanted to scream, the tears already filling his eyes. The wound suddenly stung intensely and his eyes shut, a gasp leaving him. He left the water, left it all and wet his hair, grabbing that stupid shampoo and rubbed it into his hair, rinsed it and backed away from the shower, grabbing the towel. He hated this, so much that he would almost tear all the threads out of his chest, would he dare to. He wanted to die. He wanted them to all wither and die and give him a knife so he could end it all. NOW.

Tony... The more distant his thoughts grew, the darker and deeper they disappeared, the more prominent his longing for Tony became.

They had arranged them all rooms, one each, which was good, but Tony definitely missed his own room, which was at least four times the size of this one. He was checking plans and communicating with Jarvis about the ship in the air. They were running scans and every hour new information was coming in and they were all on it, trying to figure out how to get aboard it. They didn't have much time, for they knew the crew aboard the ship would realise they were on the case, but they were progressing so quickly that they believed they'd be able to board the ship by the next day. Tony, however, could hardly keep his eyes open and thus, he told Jarvis to 'go back home' and shut the screens off. He took out his phone and gave SHIELD a call, but heard that Loki was not available... He threw a bit of a fit on his end of the phone and getting calm SHIELD agents telling him to calm down and that they understood was quite annoying, but at least he knew what was going on: Loki was in the shower. He didn't know how well that'd go, but it was okay, he thought, at least...

He lied down in bed, putting the phone at his side. He let out a sigh, his hands folding behind his head. He found it annoying; that he didn't get the chance to speak to Loki and that therefore he couldn't sleep. Nor did he have any scotch to send him to sleep. He spent about an hour tossing and turning, Loki on his mind, Loki in the shower, Loki in bed, Loki's kisses, Loki's lips, his gasps and his hand taking hold of Tony's shoulder. His frown and his annoyed groans. His chuckle, his grin, his sighs. And slowly but surely he felt himself become turned on.

He growled softly as his eyes opened and there was no Loki, but on the other side... why couldn't he be? His eyes shut again and he let his hand move downwards, first hesitating, for Loki and he hadn't even got this far and now he was touching himself about Loki? Well, fuck it, Loki didn't need to know, right?

His hand moved into his underwear and he spread his legs a little, his eyes shut and he was thinking of Loki's eyes, of his eyes that fluttered open when their kisses ended, the fingers that pulled on his hair when they kissed deeply. His hand took hold of himself and slowly he moved up and down and only now he realised how long it had truly been since he'd had the chance to be alone and do this. Constantly he was busy with Loki, worrying about Loki and worrying about what was going on with SHIELD. But now... well, now he was revelling in this.

Loki's name left his lips in a breath and his head moved back a little trying to imagine how it would be, would Loki touch him. He laughed softly, for he had the feeling that that wouldn't even happen. No, Loki wouldn't touch him... unless if it was forced...

Oh, yes, Loki, forced onto his knees, against the wall. He moved slightly faster. Loki, looking up annoyedly and slightly fearfully. His hips moving forwards, prying the God's lips apart and slowly bringing his length into Loki's mouth. It would be forced for so long, but eventually Loki would understand that he needed to suck and lick and hold onto Tony's hips, move his head forwards and let his length fill his mouth.

Tony was getting closer and closer, especially as he imagined those deep green eyes looking up at him as Tony shuddered. His hands would entangle into the God's hair, pull him closer and closer. He would fuck his mouth and Loki would move faster, sucking, licking, teasing his tip with the tip of his tongue. He would prolong the orgasm by teasing, blowing, slowing down and gently running fingertips over his length. A tongue and nose moving down his thigh while his hand pumped him slowly, carefully, almost preciously. Oh yes...

But then Loki would take him into his mouth wholly, he would suck, let Tony fill his mouth to the point he was sliding down his thoat. He would move so fast and suck so hard, he would do all that felt good and Tony would come, moaning so loudly, Loki's name lingering on his tongue, which he would let out in a breath as his come trickled down the God's throat.. And then Loki would let the orgasm ride out by stroking Tony's length up and down, slowly moving into a standing position, a grin on his face, an _owning _grin... Their eyes would connect, green with brown.

And then Tony's eyes opened and his heart was racing. Had Tony truly just moaned? How had he been so lost in this...? His hand was covered in cum and he found it amazing, the orgasm still crashing through him, though softly, like a stroke over his lower stomach.

He just curled up, pulled the covers around him better and let his eyes close once more. His eyes connected with Loki's and they pulled him into a dream.

It was strange, when Loki lied in bed, on his side, reading the book, the light turned to dim. It was strange, because he felt something right in the pit of his stomach. He sensed something, something strange but somehow good... It was the same kind of feeling he got after sharing a long kiss with Tony, which he hated, or when he fell asleep in the man's arms, which he hated even more. He let out a sigh and moved his hand down to his stomach, as it felt light, tingly, fluttery even. It was nice, comforting, as if he had suddenly connected to Tony without noticing it, but at the same time it was slightly empty too, for Tony's hands weren't on his body, nor were their lips connected in a long, passionate kiss. Oh, how he loved it when Tony would gasp against his lips, or whisper his name so softly. He missed that so much...

Loki had no idea of the time, for he had no windows and his biological clock was distorting, to say the least. He had no idea when he should be eating which kind of meal and he didn't like the food here, anyway. It all looked like each other and it wasn't anything like the buttery toast Tony made, or the small thick pancakes with something sweet, or the ice cream with syrup and cream that he was given before bed. Even the horribly bitter coffee he missed, or the smell of alcohol on Tony's breath, whether it was in the morning, in the afternoon, or at night. He could drink all day and it didn't even matter to Tony. Loki didn't always like it, for he'd become a different person, but on the other side, he found it interesting, as long as he didn't need to be in Tony's presence when he got very aggressive and unreasonable from the amount of alcohol he'd consumed. Thus far nothing too bad had happened and Loki found it amusing, looking back at Tony's fits, perhaps as they'd never been directed towards him. In fact, whenever Tony was drunk Loki felt strangely at ease, as if he suddenly had nothing to live up to, nothing to hide, for Tony wasn't hiding much anymore either...

He was sucked into the book again a few moments later, as the strange feeling had faded and the story had taken on another exciting twist. So, the one who'd supposedly been portrayed as the bad guy all along, wasn't the bad guy at all... In fact, he'd tried to do good. He continued to read and read, although he knew that he would soon finish the book, which meant he wouldn't be able to read on about this story that he'd come quite attached to. He wouldn't admit that, of course. Tony better hurried with getting back to him and giving him the books that followed this one.

After he finished reading the book he was left feeling slightly empty. The ending, although was a positive one, didn't sit well with him. He didn't want Harry to have to return to the family that hated him so. He wanted to read how Harry was where he wanted to be, where he felt at home. He fell asleep somewhere along the trail of thoughts, book still laying next to him.

He had no idea how long he'd slept, but when he was awoken he felt strangely alert, which could only mean he hadn't been sleeping for a long time at all... Four hours at the most, he'd say. He blinked, looking up at the woman that stood beside his bed, telling him to get up, as he needed to eat. Despite not having had a lot to eat over the past days he felt little for eating now.

"No thanks," he replied in a mutter, though then cleared his throat, as he realized his voice had sounded awfully... weak. The agent reached out and took the book that had been laying beside him on the pillow. Immediately his eyes widened and he reached out to snatch it back from her, but she'd already seen what it was of course. She chuckled softly and it made him feel incredibly stupid, despite there being nothing but friendliness in her eyes.

"What did you think?" she asked, nodding towards the book. "Did you like it?"

"What do you care?" he snapped back. She rolled her eyes, clearly just wishing for some 'normal' conversation. But Loki didn't like telling people what he thought about certain things, out of fear for having them find out things about him that they shouldn't know. He'd tell Tony, but even that would be difficult.

"I think it's a great series," she said. Her eyes then turned to look at the box of books that stood in the corner of the room. "Do tell me he gave you the follow up." Loki sat motionless for a moment, before shaking his head.

"Ah, that's a shame," she commented. "They're all brilliant. In fact, they just get better and better. And thicker." That was good news, yet he didn't trust her judgement. He stayed silent and soon she let the subject drop, clearly realizing it wasn't going to work out. She brought him food, which he didn't touch and continued to persistently tell him she wasn't going to leave until he'd finished at least part of the meal. In the end he gave in, having a few tiny bites, before shoving the plate away quite aggressively, which was her queue to leave him be.

"I'll just keep this here," she said, putting the food down on the only small table that stood in the room, close to the bed. "In case you get hungry." But even if he would get hungry, he wouldn't eat knowing all these people were watching him. It made him feel severely uncomfortable.

When she left the room he roamed through the box to find something else to read, but nothing sparked his interest at the moment. Not after the book he'd just read, anyway. He sighed softly, wondering why Tony hadn't given him the second book as well. At least the book had been good enough a distracted during his time here. Now he was continuously thinking about it, desperate to find out what followed.


	16. Chapter 16) A Little Help

**A/N: Warning! Explicit content! **

**Chapter sixteen) A Little Help**

They were making their way to the ship, some of the dispatched in helicopters and Tony, obviously, flying. They had tried to think of a casual way to get aboard, but there seemed to be none. All they could try to do was get in as soon as possible and get as far into the ship as quickly as possible. They needed to get to the Silver Demon, that was their main concern. Certainly they'd made up a few good plans that would involve certain people - like Romanov - to take the sneaky pathways for the extra effect of surprise.

"Jarvis, you ready?" he asked, as they were nearing where the invisible ship was making its way through the air. This was going to be fun. He had a perfect view of the ship provided by Jarvis and it ensured that he would be able to manoeuvre around it, despite not being able to see it. "Let's bring this baby down," he said, quite passively, as he flew nearer. He raised his palm and fired a blast at the precise location of one of the energy supplies for the left motor. It also happened to be a part of the invisibility shield that surrounded the ship. "One down," he said, while he quickly made his way to the other side. At any moment missiles would certainly be on his tail, but for now he still had some time. He fired the second blast. That left two more to go. He manoeuvred as close to the ship as he possible could (and dared), making it harder for anyone to get a clear aim of him. "Three down, guys," he spoke, after firing the third blast. That left one more and he was already prepared to have run out of time as the missile escaped the hull of the ship and a moment later came rushing towards him. "Ah, this is where things get tricky." But not so tricky.

"Jarvis, put all energy into the thrusters," he spoke, although Jarvis had already taken care of it by the time he finished talking. He was flying straight towards where he should have fired the final blast and only when he was about to hit it halted - just long enough - before flying straight up, as fast as he could. Ah, the missile seemed perfectly confused and gushed straight into the ship.

"Good job," he heard Rogers say, who was in one of the helicopters furthest back, but had Hawkeye next to him, looking out at the scene before them, which clearly meant they had the best idea of what was going on.

"Thanks," Tony commented, watching how the ship was losing its invisibility. "That's better." He commented, patting the hull of the ship as he flew past it. But he also knew that the next missile was only a few seconds away and thus he was clearing away from the ship as soon as he could. Yes, despite the ship was only half-functioning as most of the engines had been shut off, they were still clearly outnumbered and as intruders, not defenders, stood a good chance at being beaten. "Well, we better get moving."

Loki had been going in and out of focus as he tried to get into one of the other books that Tony had brought him, but everything he picked up just reminded him of Tony and his absence, rather than having him absorbed into yet another story... It was quite horrible, he had to admit, as time suddenly seemed to be passing by so slow. And then it got worse as the door opened and the same agent from before came in.

"I'm not hungry," he said immediately, without so much of looking up from his book.

"I brought you something to eat, anyway," she spoke and put the tray down on the same table she'd put his breakfast down on. She looked at how little he'd had of it, but didn't comment. "I also brought you this," she spoke and a moment later a book landed in his lap. He blinked for a moment. "I'm sorry it's looking a bit rough, but it's one of the favourites of the kids."

He picked it up. The chamber of secrets? He wondered what that was about. But that wasn't the point. The point was that he could continue to read! He looked up at the agent, not quite sure what to say, as 'thank you' seemed out of place.

"You better finish it before you're out of here. I want it back," she said and he nodded in response.

"Of course," he said then. "I will."

And within no time he was engulfed into the book. The first few pages stole him right back into the story and he was making himself stop every now and then, for he didn't want to finish the story in one go. He didn't know whether the agent would bring him the third, after all. And thus he took his time, eventually starting to eat some of his food again, though still it were little bites that he couldn't enjoy. The food wasn't nice, but gradually as he was complaining less and less (which his mind turned to 'turning soft') he was getting nicer food. Or he simply was getting less determined to think of this entire place as a shithole.

Back in Japan everyone was making their way away from the ship as soon as possible. They hadn't been able to get a tracking device on the ship, for the missiles that were chasing them were too dangerous. "Back to base?" Tony asked.

"No, we need to fly to platform 63 in the South of the city, from there we can carry on the plan," Steve Rogers replied, to which Tony changed his course and flew towards the platform, away from the missiles and away from the ship.

Once they landed, Tony being faster than the helicopter, he pulled himself into a sitting position. Well, this was going to be a long day... it already was and it had only just started. Now was to hoping that they could go up against all of this...

It wasn't a long wait for the rest to return and when they did, they were loading gear onto the ship, gear onto Tony's armour. Of course, Tony was equipped, but these guns were needed to blast through the invisibility. It was going to work.

As they were flying back, they got exactly the right angle. They'd calculated what the blind point was for the ship and they were coming in exactly there. The moment they were close enough, they were blasting through the ships's shields, making it entirely visible. Then, they had no time to lose and landed on the ship.

Tony went another way and caught Hawkeye from one of the helicopters, dropping him on one of the walkways below the ship after having blasted the window open. By the looks of the ship, they weren't even so far off with what their scans had showed them and thus they had an idea of what kind of things were where as they'd researched the model of the plane.

They knew where the cockpit was and that blasting that to oblivion was their last resort, for they didn't like the sound of a ship this size crashing down on top of Tokyo. No, not a good idea.

Tony flew into the ship and started to blast the guards with the thrusters, as Hawkeye and Tony were in other places of the ship, making a good route possible for Romanov to sneak her way into the ship. "Scanners on high," Tony told Jarvis, wanting to get a layout of the ship.

They got further and further into the ship and thus further away from each other.

"Bad news," Hawkeye suddenly spoke.

"Can never have enough of that. What's going on?" Tony asked, blasting a guard backwards, then rushing into the next hall.

"I think I just spotted the Silver Demon. He's in the hall near the cockpit. His armour is gruesome, there's no way I can't get anywhere near him," he spoke.

"Is it time to signal for the Hulk?" Tony asked, to which he heard nothing for a while. He carried on his task, then leaving the ship once more to fly to the back of it.

"That was close," Hawkeye then said. "The patrollers at the front here are... skilled," he said. By the sound it it, Clint had tackled them, but not so easily. To that, Tony headed closer to the front of the ship. "We can't do this without the Hulk. Romanov, are you in?"

"Not exactly," she asked and by the sounds of it, she was fighting.

"This isn't sounding so good. Okay, send the big guy in," Steve spoke, who was listening in and fighting his way around the outer skirts of the ship.

"Glad I don't have a say in this," Bruce replied, then indeed left the helicopter and hopped aboard the ship, making his way towards Clint.

"This is where the war begins," Steve said, breathing in deeply. "Prepare for the worst, fellows."

"Always do," Tony replied, to which Clint let out a laugh.

"We have a Hulk," Hawkeye spoke as the green monster came into view. "We'll be fine." He was right, wasn't he? The Hulk... who could beat the Hulk?

Tony and Steve made their way through the ship, making paths for Romanov to take that lead her to meet up with Clint, which he did, though something was wrong, again.

"What's wrong?" Romanov asked as she ran towards Barton.

"Run," Hawkeye spoke. "Everyone out, now. Just go. Run," he spoke, running faster, his hand clasping on Natasha's, taking her the way he had just cleared.

"What's going on?" Natasha asked, running with him. He pushed her before him, so she could flee faster, but she didn't know why, and he wouldn't speak. "Clint?!" she demanded, turning around to him, but he didn't respond, he just motioned to run.

They both reached a window, where Clint had been dropped into, where Tony had blasted the window open. "What now?" she asked, turning towards Clint. They were high up and they were lucky if Stark could catch the both of them. Still, Natasha didn't know what they were fleeing for...

"Jump, just jump," he spoke, pushing Natasha towards the window. "We need to go."

"What about Bruce?" she asked, looking around.

"Too late," Hawkeye responded.

"Too late? A little optimism guys," Tony spoke. "I'm coming your way, what's all this 'run' stuff about?" he asked.

"I'm back on the helicopter," Steve notified.

"Just jump Natasha!" Clint shouted and she doubted, looking into his eyes. She then saw a big, green arm appear at the end of the hall, though there was something slowly enclosing around him and his body had a different posture, a different- The metal was silver and it was folding around him, as if it took him over, encasing Bruce's body, as if it did that to keep him in that form. "Jump!" Clint shouted and this time she didn't hesitate, jumping out of the ship and giving herself over to the fall.

She turned to look up at the window, the last thing she saw being Clint attempt to jump. Tony then grabbed her and flew her up. "Save him," she spoke insistently, looking at the window, where Clint no longer was. Nor was he falling. "Save him! He's got Clint!" she shouted.

"We need to go home. We'll come back soon. We need a new plan, we underestimated them."

"Blow the cockpit," Natasha replied, holding onto the iron suit firmly. "Blow it!"

"And lose Bruce and Clint? No..." Tony said.

"So we're going to let Clint be used again?" she asked. Tony gave a nod and flew her all the way back to base, where she let out a heavy sigh once she touched ground. "We need a new plan," she insisted immediately.

"Don't worry, we'll get one," Fury spoke as he left the helicopter back at platform 63. Tony pulled his helmet off and stepped towards Fury.

"Yeah, I have one," he replied, motioning for all to gather.

"What is it?" Natasha asked. Everyone could see that she was slightly upset, but only because they could now say that they knew her.

"One word, name, actually:" Tony said, grinning, "Loki." Certainly the silence was the least Tony had expected to get in return, but it didn't cause him to cease grinning. Silence was good, it meant that they couldn't come up with any immediate arguments against the matter. He looked at each of them and as no one spoke, he continued. "Loki has no powers at the current moment," he spoke and immediately Romanov set in to make an objection against Loki helping, at that, as certainly a powerless God wasn't going to be a match for the monster they'd just encountered. "There is a way for him to redeem them, however and I'm quite certain that it's got to do with this whole fighting for the light and doing good, stuff. Isn't it always that?" he asked. "So, we just need to throw him into that ship and let him do the rest."

"You'd sacrifice him like that?" Fury asked, raising an eyebrow, though not actually minding the idea of Loki being sacrificed at all. In fact, he seemed to be only questioning Tony's morale.

"It's not sacrificing, when it's curing," Tony replied with a shrug. "Besides, he's quite the manipulator. I'm certain he'd hold out against this thing."

"Yeah, he didn't hold out so well against us," Rogers replied, clearly not believing Loki was what he implied to be.

"Don't underestimate him," Tony spoke, raising his eyebrow towards Rogers. "Just, don't."

"I'm not underestimating him. I think we don't have any use for him, except for use him as some kind of bait, perhaps," he said.

"Well, like I said, if he redeems his powers-"

"What if he turns on us?" Natasha then spoke. Why did nobody just let him speak?

"Even with his powers he couldn't face the Hulk. Let alone the Hulk and something much more powerful," Rogers spoke, raising his eyebrows.

"But this time, Loki is on our side, for he won't be fighting me. He has other things on his mind. Now, if he would be in the state to turn on us, he wouldn't have redeemed his powers," he spoke, raising his eyebrows. "Now, please," he started, "let me tell you my plan."

"It's too risky," Rogers spoke, before he gave Tony the chance. "There's no way that we're going to get anywhere. He won't turn to the 'light'! Do you really think that he will become a good person?"

"Yes," Tony replied and he found it difficult for he had no Bruce to back him up. "Thor sent him here and he wouldn't do that if there was no way to let him redeem his powers, and thus: yes, he can turn to the light, Rogers," Tony spoke, raising his eyebrows. "Now just _listen_."

And now, they did.

They would get Loki over here, they would reunite and they would make sure Loki was up to date before he arrived. The moment he was suited up and armoured, Tony would fly him up and drop him into the ship. From then on, Loki's famous silver tongue would do the rest of the work, they hoped.

Thor was watching and he wouldn't let his brother die and thus, to survive he must make Loki redeem his powers. He must give them back to him if he was in danger of losing his life, but on the other hand, why hadn't Thor done anything when Loki tried to kill himself all those times? This was just a risk they needed to take.

The door opened once again in Loki's room and he wanted to scream. No! No food, no shower, no nothing! But this time, they were holding a uniform and the woman who'd lent him the book had a smile on her face. He frowned slightly, not knowing what was going on.

"There seems to be a change of plans," she spoke and Loki frowned at that, as it didn't actually make anything clearer. What exactly about this was supposed to be funny? Or was she actually serious? And, in that case, was it a good or bad change of plans? Too much questions that he didn't even dare ask, as he didn't want to come across panicky. "It seems you are needed in Japan."

At that his heart beat faster and sank at the same time. He was _needed_? He would almost smile. If only it wasn't for the fact that he was worried that -

"Did something go wrong?" he asked, quite pushily, eyes looking into hers to detect any lie should it be there.

"There were some complications. You will be briefed on the flight there. You are requested to hurry."

"What complications?" he pressed on. He needed to hear it said: Tony is okay.

"I am not in on the full details, but I'm under the impression the Silver Demon took 'hostages'."

"Who? Who did he take?" Loki asked, quite aggressively suddenly as she wasn't getting to the point and he was getting more and more worried, which was a feeling he truly didn't know how to deal with.

"Banner and Barton," she replied after a moment's hesitation and immediately he felt a weight drop from his shoulders. He sighed softly, clearly in relief, though he wished it wasn't so obvious.

There was no time to linger on the matter and he hurried to get changed into the clothes he was given, despite how the woman was there. The clothing looked a little too plain to make him look like anything important, but at least his own clothes were in the bag he was given. As for the books? Well, they needed to stay, unfortunately. He could retrieve them later. He had no time to worry about it.

As he boarded the plane and was treated with not necessarily respect, but certainly the openness that granted the opportunity of earning some, he felt a little more relieved and certainly less on edge. He'd gone from being a prisoner to an ally of the Avengers. He'd wondered what had changed their mind.

"Will Thor be coming?" Loki asked, to which the man shook his head.

"There's been no news from your realm, no," the agent replied. "It is hoped not to be necessary if you, are present."

"You can count on that," Loki responded, though his arrogance wasn't all so true. What if he couldn't convince the Silver Demon with words? He had no magic! What if they did need Thor and he wouldn't come? Oh, the worst of it would be for Loki to need Thor's saving... once more. No, he couldn't think like that. He could do this! He would do this!

Ah, but had he not always tried to convince himself and never actually managed, in the end, to complete the task he'd set out to do? He didn't want to fail this time. He didn't want to fail _Tony_!

The flight was long, but Loki had enough things on his mind to distract him. He held the book he had been allowed to take - under the condition that he returned it in one piece - in his lap, though only from time to time managed to read a few sentences. He wished there was a way of contacting Tony that wouldn't be awkward. He simply wished to hear his voice, to know that truly he _was_ fine. They'd ensured him that he was alright, but Loki didn't exactly trust SHIELD, did he? In fact, he continuously wondered what would happen if they decided to throw him out of the plane somewhere over the ocean, simply to have a safe way of getting rid of him, without anyone ever finding out. No, they wouldn't do that. Thor would know, anyway and they knew he would know. Right? He needed to stop this, he realized, but he couldn't.

His distrust ran too deeply to be simply forgotten. If only the agent that had given him the book was aboard. He could find it in him to trust her, somewhat, although he wouldn't admit it. At the very least he didn't despise her like he despised all others. And that truly said a lot. He was given food that he didn't eat and asked questions that he didn't answer. He was offered many things that he declined. And he definitely didn't sleep when they told him he should. He didn't want anything to do with these people. He simply _couldn't wait_ to see Tony.

Once they finally landed and Loki got out he immediately regretted the somewhat eager expression that had crossed his face. Nick Fury came to greet him, an incredibly passive aggressive sneer on his face.

"You better not play any tricks," he said, a dark warning in his voice. "In case it was unclear: I got the entire Avengers here to take down a bad guy. If you become the bad guy, you're dead. Understood?"

He was looking everywhere for Tony, but he couldn't see him and not only did that made him panic, but it brought him... disappointment. Didn't Tony want to see him? No, of course not. "You have been briefed on the plane, I assume?" Fury asked, to which Loki nodded, still looking around for Tony. "We need to get you in the lab first to show you the map of the ship," he said, "as Banner is gone, we've got Stark running all his tasks too."

Relief rushed through him and he was able to reason why Tony hadn't come to meet him. Maybe he didn't know. When they neared the lab, Loki already saw Tony working through the windows. Screens were everywhere and it reminded Loki of how Tony was at home. He even had the bottle of scotch at his side. As the door opened and Loki walked in, Tony's face lit up.

He had been so busy with everything, all the maps and getting them to fit together, all the different scans and not only that, he was trying to figure out the invisibility shield. Now, however, he had some relief: Loki.

"Loki," Tony smiled, motioning for him to come over. Fury came with him, his arms crossed.

"Loki will need guards," Fury spoke, both to Tony, Loki and to the agents that listened in. "Send some."

"What about me?" Tony asked as Loki joined him. "I can take him on," he said, raising his eyebrows as he carried on to push things over screens for Loki to get the full picture.

"Too risky. Especially with that bottle over there," Fury spoke. Oh, yes, that. Tony'd broken the rules: escaped to get himself some scotch. Could he be blamed?

Tony rolled his eyes. And what if they wanted to be alone for a while? "Loki, nice to see you out of that prison," Tony spoke, smiling up at the man he'd come to love a lot. "Hope you weren't bored out of your mind... Now, if you look here, you see the ship," Tony spoke.

"The guards will be here shortly," Fury spoke and left the room, to which Tony just turned to Loki, grabbed him and pressed their lips together in a hot, wet kiss. He needed this so badly. He was so stressed it was unreal and seeing Loki in one bit was so relieving...

Loki's surprise wasn't difficult to sense and as Tony let go, it was as if Loki only then fathomed what was going on. He looked down at Tony, his teeth digging into his lower lip firmly, hurting himself. Tony wondered why he did that and he wanted to talk, but before he could say anything, he heard a sound down the hall and seconds later there were two guards on the inside of the door.

"Well, that's uncomfortable," Tony spoke, raising his eyebrows a little at the guards. "As I was saying, the ship is here, hovering above Tokyo. They have Banner and Barton. They were captured here," he pointed at a part, "and the Silver Demon stays here, apparently," he pointed at another and let out a sigh. "Really, I don't get why we're prancing about while we should just get there," he spoke, turning towards Loki. He poured himself a glass of scotch and took a few sips. "Let's take a walk, I've had enough of this," he spoke, moving his hand over the screens to minimize everything and turn them off.

The guards, however, followed them, which Tony found more than annoying and thus he made sure to walk fast and talk quietly.

"How are you?" he asked, looking sideways at Loki. "How have you been?" Loki let out a soft, annoyed noise and shook his head, shrugging. "Is that an 'okay'? Better than expected? Worse? The same?"

"It's fine," Loki spoke, though that was hardly an answer at all, of course. 'It' was fine... What was it? Of course, that was exactly why Loki said it like that, as he clearly didn't want to discuss 'how he had been', now he couldn't lie about it. Ah, that was going to be a problem when confronted with the Silver Demon? Yeah, they'd need another good think or two about that.

"I know you don't like a lot of this and probably just want to be back in your room in the Tower, but we will be back home soon," Tony said then, figuring it was useless to try and get Loki to talk about things now they were followed by these guards. It truly was a nuisance that he could do without.

"I hope so," Loki said, much to Tony's surprise, as it was the equivalent of actually admitting that he did wish to be home. Not just 'home', but with Tony.

The day was as good as over when they returned from their walk, which wasn't as private as Tony had wanted it to be. However, Tony, without shame invited Loki back to his room, which shut with quite a large iron door. The guards could leave, for the door could only open with coding that Tony knew and Tony, being the bully that he was, liked to keep the numbers from Loki.

It was only now that he turned to Loki and realised they were alone, truly alone... He thought of how he had experienced quite a good orgasm in bed here while thinking of Loki, but now... now they were together and he wanted to experience one with Loki, presumably at the same time and almost without words, their lips crashed together in what seemed to be a never ending kiss. As they finally came up for air, Tony didn't even calculate where Loki would land exactly when he pushed him backwards towards the bed hard, where he climbed over to Loki and resumed their hot, passionate kisses.

Of course there was the minor detail of Loki's wounds and Tony made a semi-important note to be careful when handling the God, when simultaneously he was pushing him into the mattress, hands finding wrists to pin above Loki's head, feet kicking apart the God's legs, wishing they were already naked. He kissed him firmly, passionately, possibly even aggressively. It shouldn't be allowed for them to spend so much time apart...

Loki hardly objected, though he could feel that it was only a matter of time before Loki's slight struggles and pulls would turn more vicious and more difficult to restrict. Ah, but he wouldn't be Tony Stark if he didn't have a solution for everything. Especially things to do with sex.

"You want this," Tony spoke, while one of his hands snaked to the bag that stood close to the bed and he yanked it closer. A moment later he'd managed to conveniently bind Loki's wrists to the headboard with a thin piece of string. Ah, that would definitely be difficult to get away from.

"What is this?" Loki asked, a sneer on his face as he looked up at the Engineer.

"Just to ensure you're not going anywhere," Tony said. "If you behave we can do it without them next time."

"Next time?! Why are you thinking-" but Loki shut his mouth, when Tony's lips crashed against his once more. And so they continued their game, which Tony seemed to effortlessly win, as they were naked within no time (Loki even sooner than Tony, apart from the shirt that was still half-on, due to the rope around his wrists).

The lacking true threats and struggles were enough proof that Loki indeed did want this and Tony took quite some satisfaction in knowing that. It wouldn't be too long now, for him to take the God's body and make him his entirely. Oh, he loved that idea... He'd been dreaming about it constantly over the past few days. Though, he rather not think about how weird that truly was.

"So, you want this the nice, normal, boring, not so painful way, or the... exciting, let's just get on with it, way?" Tony asked, looking down at the God as if he would truly consider the reply. Loki just looked at him in annoyance, clearly too embarrassed to answer. "Ah, hoped you'd say that."

Their lips crashed together over and over again and Tony pressed his naked body against Loki's. He had never been naked in front of Loki before, though the other way round had happened quite conveniently. But they were really jumping from kissing straight into sex. Oh, what did it even matter? They both wanted this and foreplay with Loki didn't sound so good in his mind.

His hands moved between Loki's legs, palms flat against the inside of his thighs, slowly prying them apart so he could move against Loki properly. Loki struggled quite some, a beautiful frown etched into his forehead. Oh, he was so amazing...

His hand wrapped around himself, his lips kissing Loki's one last time before moving back to look into the God's eyes, knowing for certain that this truly was what he wanted. This God, this bed, this moment, this sex... now. He moved a hand behind Loki's head to hold him close. "Move your legs around me," he whispered, moving himself to Loki's entrance, their eyes never leaving each other. It was only a matter of seconds of their eyes being glued together, gasps leaving the both of them and a very pained noise leaving Loki, the frown etching into his brow deeper, that they were closer than they'd ever been before.

Tony hardly gave Loki so much as a moment's rest to adjust himself as he continued to move closer, _deeper_. Their eyes were still locked, though the pain and slight confusion shimmered clear in the those beautiful green eyes. Ah, he hid nothing. Yet... there was something missing. Definitely something missing. He moved down to the God's ear, whispering softly: "no one has ever made you scream. You have too much dignity for it and certainly too much self-control." He came up to look into green eyes once more and pushed forward, hard, burying himself deep into Loki, who twitched and arched and... screamed. It thrilled Tony to no end and, for some reason, moved him more than he had previously expected. He had such control, such control over a man that never let his guard down, let alone freely handed over any control.

Tony went on, mercilessly, taking the God's body and claiming it, marking it his. "Loki..." he groaned, looking down as Loki's moist eyes looked back up at him. Loki continued to gasp, let out noises akin to screams and eventually moaned.

"I hate you," the God spoke through gritted teeth, right before his mouth opened in bliss as his body was so very taken by the Engineer that he, indeed, was supposed to hate. Tony's eyes shot to Loki's lips, as not only did he look beautiful, but too did he need to see the thread appear. Those words... They pained Tony, although he knew better than to believe them. Yet... where was the thread? It _had _to be a lie. It just had to be... right? Loki didn't hate him!

He moved closer, right when he saw the forceful pull on Loki's lips that would force them shut, as the thread was sealing him. He almost felt bad for feeling relieved. Loki's eyes shot up to look into Tony's and a moment later, they were kissing. The thread pulled Loki away from the kiss, but the God would not give up. He pushed into the kiss and Tony felt Loki's tongue slip out of his mouth for the shortest of moments, before a pained noise left him. Blood was seeping down his lips, cheeks and chin, as he was pulling so fiercely against the bounds to continuously kiss Tony, who tasted the ivory taste of blood. And found that he liked it, but that was besides the point. Loki was fighting the lie to the best of his ability; to show Tony exactly that: that he loved him.

"Loki," he whispered against the God's lips. "I know." Loki let out a pained whimper, eyes having teared up and silent tears escaping. His lips had never bled this severely and Tony could see the holes that the thread pierced, tear. "Loki, be careful, shh..." he soothed. Loki looked up at him, actually allowing Tony a look into his hurt and pain, as it so clearly displayed in his green eyes.

Soon, Loki let out another noise, somewhat surprised even and Tony saw what happened to the thread... it seemed to slip away from the wounds and after a moment all that was left were the healing wounds and the piece of dark green string that fell to the bed. It could truly mean only one thing; the curse was lifted.


	17. Chapter 17) Redemption

**A/N: Firstly, I need to apologise for the wait. I never intended to keep you guys waiting so long D: I hope some of you are still committed to reading this. Anyway, this is the next to last chapter, the last will be posted in a few days. Thank you to everyone who's been reading this! It means a lot :)**

**Chapter seventeen) Redemption**

The next morning they awoke with a start, for Jarvis spoke without having been talked to. Tony recognised it, however, to be the call he'd asked for to wake him right up. He hadn't wanted to be woken up from this slumber, though. He had Loki; the God of Mischief, at his side, naked and exhausted by what had happened, exhausted by the rough sex that had taken place right here only hours ago. He knew everything he needed to know about the God, because it was so simple: He loved Loki, more than anything.

"Wake up, rise and shine," Tony spoke about ten minutes later, when he had forced himself to open his eyes and look at Loki, spread kisses all over him. Only a grunt he got in return and he kissed Loki on the forehead, who, like many, couldn't get up in the mornings, not even a little. He found it sweet, but highly inconvenient most times. Finally he awoke and the first thing that happened was that a small smile spread over Loki's face, reaching all the way up into his eyes. Soon, they were out of bed. They got dressed, had breakfast and headed towards Fury, ready to get to whatever they needed to. Tony, at least, looked at the world in a different light, he hoped Loki did the same.

"You are all aware of the plan, I presume?"

"I fly up with Loki, we send backup in and let Loki drop into the ship and do all the talking for everyone else," Tony spoke, which Fury confirmed, though probably would have worded it quite differently... "Not hard, nor easy, now; let's go, Loki?" he asked, turning towards the God. "You ready?"

Loki looked around, then nodded and they were off, on the mission. Now he just hoped that the mission wasn't going to fail like the last one did, sort of. Especially not now failing could mean losing Loki, which was the last thing Tony should be thinking about right now, but it was the worry most prominent on his mind. The silver-tongued God of Mischief could lie and deceive once more, but it wouldn't necessarily be his redemption and was it not Loki's redemption that Tony secretly hoped for?

Without his magic Loki hardly had any means of protecting himself, yet he seemed willing to comply to the terms. It was only when Loki and Tony shared their last moment alone, before the mission started, that Loki actually explained why.

"All the time while I was imprisoned at SHIELD, I thought of you. Not because I wanted to be with you, per se, but because I knew that if you'd do something stupid there was no one there more willing to risk everything than I would be to save you."

And Tony was flabbergasted, he was amazed by the God's words and had no idea that Loki thought so... highly of him. He wanted to kiss him and smother him in the love he felt for the God in return, but there was no time.

"Try to think of yourself, too, though, hm?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. Loki didn't respond, which made it clear. Tony couldn't expect him to no longer be willing to take his own life. Loki didn't want to live, but he didn't want to see Tony go. "Just know that I'll break, would you die," he added, which meant quite the same to Loki's own words. Tony just didn't speak them so clearly.

Hopefully, Tony was worrying about something that wasn't worth worrying about. Sure, Loki had a life and he was risking it, but Thor would not in any circumstance let his brother die, despite the fact that he is the king of Asgard and that Loki is a wrongdoer in all eyes. Loki is also someone incredibly important to him, and he wouldn't let Loki die, just to show his Kingdom that they would not forgive the wrong in one's heart.

"Let's go," Tony then spoke, squeezing Loki's shoulder firmly before heading towards the helicopter. There they met Romanov, Fury and Rogers. It was strange to be without Banner and Barton, but they were just going to have to make sure that they'd get them back. "I fly Loki up, right? For precision purposes..." Tony spoke, to which Fury nodded.

"Yes, Tony..." Fury spoke. "I thought you were one to remember plans like the back of your own hand... Anyway, we must get going. Stark, Loki, set off. We will follow shortly," Fury spoke. Tony activated his thrusters, grabbed hold of Loki and was off.

"Well, here we go," he spoke, feeling Loki's arms wrap around him firmly, holding himself tightly against the metal. Again, they approached from the dead corner, though they knew the crew would be more cautious this time. Tony then shot underneath the ship, waiting for a missile to get launched and he flew up quickly, then heading down, holding Loki to him tightly, who must be getting a little bit sick by all this flying. He flew straight for the surface of the ship, the missile tailing him. Then just before he hit it, he pulled up and skimmed the surface, while putting more energy in the thrusters. The missile blasted straight through the ship where it needed to be.

"Well done!" he heard through their communicative wavelength that was being streamed in his helmet.

Tony circled, before lowering to the wrecked havoc. Crew members were gathering and soon Tony threw Loki to the side as he landed himself and made sure to immediately start blasting. There was little Loki could do, but try to manoeuvre cleverly through the crowd. He wasn't so bad at it either, especially considering the fact he was wounded badly. He seemed to have a knack for ignoring pain. Tony made sure that whoever came near Loki would certainly regret it and soon they found themselves rushing through a quieter hallway. Ah, it was only quiet as everyone had gathered in the main space. There wasn't much left of those that had fought them and those that hadn't were clever enough not to follow them. It did mean, however, that the ship would be alerted.

"Down here," Tony said and soon they were rushing towards where they knew the Silver Demon would be, who would certainly expect another attempt on his life. Hopefully it would at the least be surprising. "Oeh, that's gruesome," Tony spoke as he looked at the 'statues' of Hawkeye and the Hulk that were set before the entrance to the Demon's quarters. Loki ignored it, although certainly it would have been somewhat fearful for his own fate. "Just don't think on it too much," he said.

"Stark," he heard through the communication device. "You weren't supposed to go all the way with him. Are you alright?"

"Yes, fine, actually," he replied. "I figured ensuring Loki to actually get where he needed to be wouldn't be such a bad thought."

"Alright, fine, but we're going to need ya," Romanov spoke.

"I know, I'll be there," he spoke, though his attention soon turned to Loki who was his primary concern for the moment, as much as that still was a thought he didn't like to admit. Loki knew it now, however. There was no point in hiding it. In fact, seeing as they were facing quite the danger it might just be all the more reason to be honest.

"You better not do anything stupid," Loki spoke, his expression quite blank, those his eyes giving away some of the seriousness behind the request.

"Hey, I'm a genius!" Tony replied. "I never do anything stupid." He grinned behind his helmet, before looking at the doors ahead. "Go on, distract him. I don't care how many lies you tell, as long as you survive to tell me that one truth you've never quite put to words."

"What truth?" Loki asked, eyes narrowing.

"You know." And with that Tony was off, rushing back through the hallway to leave the ship and team up with the rest to find another way inside for their surprise attack. Loki vaguely wondered whether he was supposedly the best 'distraction method'. Sure, he'd managed to pull off quite some stunts in the past, but he'd always had his magic to fall back on should his words come short. Now, however, he hardly had anything.

He stepped forwards, nonetheless and soon found himself sneaking into the part of the ship that they'd all been warned about. It wasn't as heavily guarded as one might think, which was the only reason Loki managed to come eye to eye with the Silver Demon without too much sneaking around.

Immediately Loki stood tall, wiping whatever expression he might've carried off his face and green eyes shooting up to look upon the mask the other was wearing to cover his face. Ah, cowardice. "It is said that you were taller than this," Loki said, matter-of-factly, unable to stop the remarks, despite knowing how they might only lead to angering his opponent. "It's also said that you were intimidating," he said with a shrug. "Some believed you were on fire."

"Are the Avengers truly so desperate that they call upon their enemy to defend them?" the Silver Demon chuckled. His voice was low and daunting and certainly too calm to be anything but played.

"Yes," Loki replied, looking away for a moment as if this was nothing but a casual talk. "You better watch out before they try to convert you too." So far so good, he thought, though knew that it would only be a matter of time before the Silver Demon would have enough of his talk. Better insure the story got more interesting, so he'd think twice before killing him off.

"I certainly have more class than that," the Demon spoke and it was the perfect opener.

"Ah, you call it _class_, I call it stupidity. You see; the Avengers are strong and powerful and a difficult team to undo, except for those within. To not concede would merely be to let a perfect opportunity slip. For what reason? Morale?" He let out a chuckle at that. "Is morale not only troublesome to those who succumb to it? Certainly one of your greatness would not."

"You seek to betray them," the Silver Demon stated, "yet you have come before _me_ as pray."

"No," Loki spoke, grinning wickedly for a moment as the plans were stringing together so well. He could do this, he was sure of it. "Not as pray, but as ally. You see..." he said, doing a step closer to the Demon, his voice lowering as he told the secret: "they mean to overthrow you and they are capable. You know not their plan, while I do. You would be wise to let me come to your side. My game with them is over."

"You are powerless," the Demon spoke. "Why would I want you by my side?"

"It is not magic you want me for, it's information. I know exactly where they will come and what they will try. They might not succeed, but they might be able to pull it off, like they have done so many times before. They are not to be underestimated. It would be a waste for another good one, like yourself, to fall."

"You are offering their plan in exchange that I spare you."

"Yes, for now anyway. What you do afterwards I care little for," he replied, figuring he might as well try to make this deal sound as good as any. "You should hurry, for I assure you they like to get things over with."

"So, what is the plan?" the Silver Demon asked, to which Loki grinned.

"It is a deal, then," he spoke and stepped towards the Demon. "They will come in from all sides, two very obvious: Iron Man and Captain America," he told the Demon, which was the truth. "Now there is one trick that they will pull and that has to do with the Black Widow, the only woman in the Avengers. She is the rogue of the group, attractive and sensual, capable in distracting anyone," he pushed. "She will fight her way through the hallways, right under your nose and when she lets herself be known, it is the plan that you will try to attack her. That is when Iron Man and Captain America come in and take you down," Loki spoke, his eyes narrowing. "Do you understand that it is crucial to keep your senses sharp?"

A loud sound echoed through the ship and he grinned a little. Ah, Tony and Rogers had landed, and so had Romanov. It was not long until the Widow would meet them.

The Silver Demon nodded. "The plan is too simple. They know that I am strong enough to take them on. Where do you come in," he asked.

"Oh, well, they're assuming that I'll be a distraction for long enough, but will either get encased in silver like those two down there, or will be locked away in some other cell, or, of course, killed," he spoke. "Though I don't think the latter will be so good, because enraged Avengers are worse than the normal ones..." he spoke. "I stay out of the picture, mostly."

"I though you were their enemy, why would they be enraged by your death, especially when expected?" the Silver Demon questioned.

"Because one of them has an eye for the bad guy..." he spoke, meaning himself. It was the truth and he grinned, despite how it made him nervous. He hoped the Silver Demon's thoughts went back to how he'd spoken of Romanov.

"The woman," the Silver Demon said and Loki cracked a grin. "Do you love her?"

Loki stayed silent for a while and you could see, if you looked closely, that his eyes narrowed just a little more. "Yes..." Now the curse had lifted, he could play so much more, he could toy with the minds of the people around. He could twist their thoughts whichever way he wanted...

"You would never want to see her go, would you?" the Silver Demon asked, this time threatening Loki as he stepped closer, having discovered a 'weakness'. Loki went along with it, letting out a sigh, acting his defeat. He shook his head. "I will spare her, if she will not fight," he spoke, grinning, "if you make her fight alongside myself."

"She is stubborn, but she will not fight me," he spoke, "she _must _fight with us."

"Good," the Silver Demon spoke, his silver covered arms crossing before him. Loki grinned a little, knowing that the Avengers had heard all his words, though unsure whether they had heard the Silver Demon's. Hopefully they were perceptive enough to understand what would need to happen and soon, Romanov appeared out of the shadows, her eyes flicking to Loki's quickly, before moving to the Silver Demon.

"Loki?" she asked, stepping back from the Silver Demon. Ah, yes, it was a good act.

"Natasha, come to me," he spoke. "There is no use in fighting, for you are alone. The others have not yet come. Join me, for I will not have you dead," he spoke, having stepped towards her, his voice lowered. His eyes showed a certain form of faked compassion, but deep down he felt how his innards were turning, twisting and screaming out how much he hated this woman.

"I won't surrender to him! Why did you?" she asked, her eyes moving to the Silver Demon, who faced her, his arms crossed. He would not do anything, for he trusted Loki's judgement. Now here was to hoping Romanov trusted Loki enough to understand that she had to play along, despite how it would put her at the risk of being over powered by the Silver Demon _and_ Loki, if his choice to join the Demon hadn't been a lie induced to help the Avengers at all.

"I had no choice, I am so sorry," he spoke. "He will spare us, he will," he spoke, his hand moving to her face. The Silver Demon then jolted and the way he moved showed that he was listening to something. They were coming. His hand moved out and his suit revealed a series of weapons that appeared out of the metal casing. He moved his arms towards the noise and Loki's heart was racing, waiting for Tony to appear, like the Silver Demon himself was.

He shared another look with Romanov, who took on a defenseless position as she stepped to Loki's side, looking at where no doubtfully Tony would appear. Her eyes shifted momentarily to the Silver Demon and back to Loki, who she of course didn't trust fully. Loki tried to tell her - with a roll of his eyes - that she should stop being so petty and simply do as she was told. This way they could step closer to the Silver Demon, after all, as he wouldn't expect a straight on attack now they had 'surrendered'.

One thing was more important than the act of backstabbing the Silver Demon, and that was ensuring Tony's safety. He may die, but it was fine, for he wanted to anyway. Tony must live, he must go on. Like Loki had said; he was only there to ensure that somebody would jump to spare Tony from dying. And he _would_ jump in the stream of fire should it be necessary to save the Engineer that had stolen his heart.

The second Tony's suit came crashing through the window, the sound of the weapons being activated sounded through the shattering of the glass. Tony landed on his feet, legs bent and leaning on one hand, but he hadn't exactly expected this to come. His suit revealed weapons like the Silver Demon had, but it was way too late, as instead of the previous plan in which the Silver Demon would be too preoccupied with fighting Romanov, he had his full attention on blasting Tony. Ah, the perfect opportunity for Romanov to do her thing. Yet, as Loki watched the scene play out he saw the blast firing towards Tony, way before the other had so much as steadied himself. Loki's heart jumped painfully and he was about to rush forward, when Tony pushed up and was up in the air again right before the crash would've impacted. Loki let out a sigh of relief, though did so silently as he didn't yet want to alert the Silver Demon of their act. Romanov kept awfully quiet too.

The Silver Demon moved to take another shot, though Tony was quick to move out of the way once more. But surely he couldn't keep doing this forever. Soon, he landed not too far behind Loki and Romanov, letting out quite a believable "what are you guys doing?!" before he stepped back from them. Romanov moved out of the way as the Silver Demon was ready to point his weapons Tony's way once more, which meant they were in the way and would have to lay bare their act should they keep put. Loki, however, took a while longer before he stepped away, giving Tony the opportunity to ready his weaponry and return quite a powerful blast. They collided in mid air and all present were blasted several ways due to the impact of the collision. Loki was soon to scramble to his feet, taking in the scene. The Silver Demon stepped towards Tony, who only now was getting up. Romanov suddenly rushed forward, figuring that they had little time to spare. They _needed_ to make a move against the Silver Demon. Loki heard her give the code, indicating that Captain America needed to join in _now_ and it took him about two seconds to come into the broken window that Tony had left. Ah, so far so good, was it not for the fact that _BLAST_ the shot was fired straight towards Tony, who seemed awfully disorientated by the former hit.

Loki jolted - the slight grin that had been playing on his lips immediately wiped away - and jumped, his body catching the blow that Tony should have. It hurt, it hurt his entire body, his heart, his mind, his soul. He was amazed he wasn't dead by the time he hit the floor, but it wouldn't surprise him if it wouldn't take much longer. He coughed, though that caused intense pain to shoot through his chest, that seemed to go cold and warm at the same time. Ah... he was bleeding from old wounds, not such a good idea...

"Loki!" multiple voices sounded through the room and this time, Tony was on time to blast the Silver Demon back. He could sense Tony's need to come to him. Yes, an angry Avenger was much stronger than one that wasn't... The pain flooded through his body, blood seeping out of him through his clothes. He was going to die and there was no stopping it, whatsoever. He sought for acceptance, that he'd had for death over the past few weeks, but couldn't find it and it had him in a panic. He wanted to die, did he not? No... No, he just wanted Tony.

Many bones had broken, parts of him crushed by the blow and the hit to the ground. The pain was becoming almost absent as it was too much to bear. Yet, he had felt worse. It wasn't the pain that terrified him, it was death. He wasn't even screaming, for he didn't have the power to do so. He blinked, but there was no Tony, for Tony was fighting. Loki's death wasn't for nothing and he tried to find comfort in that. Blood seeped out of his mouth then and he didn't even try to spit and get rid of it, as he didn't have the energy to do so. His wounds bled heavily too, blood seeping through his entire body, for it was wrecked, broken. His world turned hazy, hazier, then his view started to narrow until all turned black. But he so wasn't ready to go. He so wasn't ready to give in to never kissing Tony's lips again.

The aggression in the room was intense and Tony would not stop, blow after blow knocking the Silver Demon to the ground, but there was little stopping. His armour was resistant to almost anything and they could not get through it. Not even the three of them, but Tony wouldn't stop, for if he couldn't have stopped Loki from dying, he would avenge him, like he'd told Loki the first time they stood properly eye to eye. He was crying behind his mask, silent tears running over his face which was carved with anger, a deep frown and sneer plastered on his face, but nothing he did truly wore the Silver Demon out. And the same went for Romanov, who'd come too close to being blasted like Loki a few times. Captain America had his shield that sufficiently blocked the attacks, but he could hardly deal any of himself as he was too occupied trying to hide Romanov from the worst of blasts. Like this they would never get him down, Tony was certain.

Until...

"You puny mortal," Loki's voice sounded suddenly, bemusedly so, _jokingly_ so, and as Tony turned to look at him, he saw how the wounds on his face were healing, how the magic rushed through him, giving him a brightness he hadn't seen in a long, long time. Loki let out a groan, eyes closing for a moment, before he opened them once more, probably needing to get accustomed to the feel of having his magic again. Loki's posture was no longer saddened, Tony noted, but _almost _proud and definitely mighty. A grin then formed on his face, but still, he was unarmed and Tony wondered how he was going to resolve that problem.

Loki then held out his hand beside his body, wiggling his fingers a little and the golden sceptre appeared in his grip. He grinned again, holding it up, stepping towards the Silver Demon, raising his sceptre and giving him one hard blast, the blue hitting the metal around him and shoving him backwards. "You may have made calculations for the strength of Midgardian weaponry when you constructed your armour, but you have forgotten one very important... detail:" Loki spoke, the grin Tony hadn't seen in a very long time spreading across the beautiful God's face, "I am Loki, the _God _of mischief and _lies_. And you are wrong to believe you could come here and ask for obedience," he continued. "You were wrong to think you wouldn't be stopped." He blast another time and Tony heard the God say, almost as an afterthought: "just like I was."

For the first time in Loki's entire existence he took someone down for all the right reasons. He brought the evildoer right to the ground, with the help of the other Avengers, who immediately jumped in when realizing this was their chance. They brought him down, but not to his death, for he deserved the hell that Loki'd had to endure at SHIELD too. Silvester **Shaw**, the man behind the mask, gone from an American civilian in Asia where he knew people would obey, to a lone, imprisoned man where nobody would ever take his word again. Proud of his actions, Loki was, though incapable of not feeling pity for the Silver Demon.


	18. Chapter 18) Feast

**A/N: What previously had seemed to be the last chapter has turned into several, so rest assured that this isn't the last one. I'll try to update the coming chapters soon so you won't have to wait all too long. :) Enjoy!**

**Chapter eighteen) Feast**

There was of course talk about what exactly had caused Loki to gain his magic back again, but it all came down to the fact that Loki had used his mortality. He had selflessly risked himself for another, not to regain his powers, but just to save Tony. The act of sacrifice was just and so, Thor, King of Asgard, had redeemed Loki's powers, making him a God of Asgard once more.

However thankful Loki was for having been given the options to save the Avengers, mostly Tony though, meeting with Thor was certainly something he wasn't looking forward to, nor had he actually taken into account that this were to happen when he redeemed his status. He knew of the decision that would be laid before him by Thor – What would happen now? - but was fighting with the proper response to the offer. He could not show weakness like that, could he? To tell of Tony and his relationship was simply to ask for problems. On the other hand there was the fact that Loki was far too passionate to grant anyone the opportunity not to take their relationship seriously. That included that Thor would simply have to accept that he'd found love. Loki was of no true importance to Asgard and would probably not be thought highly of at any rate, so there was no point in his return.

"Loki," Thor spoke, in that knowing tone, a smile breaking onto his face. Loki looked him over, before his eyes turned to stare at the ground and a small smile in reply forced on his lips too. He would allow Thor that much of an insight into his emotions. "I'm proud of you, my brother." At that the smile fell, but he did not snap in reply, or react aggressively like he would previously have done. He simply returned the gaze, acknowledging Thor's words, though not fully accepting them. Exactly like one would expect the God of Mischief to respond.

"I know what you are going to offer me, Thor," Loki spoke, quite diplomatically, as his voice remained calm. Not the faked calm, the _true_ calm.

"Before you answer me," Thor spoke, interrupting whatever Loki was going to say. "First, however, I think we should feast."

"Feast?" Loki asked, eyes raising somewhat. The other Avengers were gathering and he figured that as much as he feared for the awkwardness that a feast would bring along, he couldn't deny that it was probably a good idea. He would simply have to play his part well. Social occurrences such as these had never had his preference, but they were the perfect opportunity to seal friendships. He knew he still had a long way to go with some of the Avengers, after all...

He hadn't been told that the feast would be at the Tower, which he had learnt to call 'home', which was strange, for he never found himself being able to call anything home and thus, the feast was more comfortable. He knew all of the Avengers would stay all night, for they had their own rooms, but he didn't mind, as Loki was the only one who had a room on the same floor as Tony, not that they would be using _that _tonight...

All of them were dressed neatly, even Tony, despite how it was his own house, had suited up (in the non-superhero sense of the word) and to Loki's opinion looked fantastic. Thor had lost the cape and wore garments fancier than the ones he usually did, neater, too. The clothing was obviously Asgardian. Both Barton, Banner and Rogers wore a suit and Romanov appeared at Clint's arm in quite a beautiful looking dress. And for Loki? He just rid himself of his armour.

The problem, however, was not that Loki was afraid he'd have nothing to say, but that he wasn't given the chance to say anything. He felt an outsider per default and especially amongst the group of people that had forced him to step down not too long ago. It was bound to get awkward at some point... yet Loki tried to stay hopeful and tried to imagine this working out, but he had the awful sense there was no way.

For the moment Tony and he were alone in the room Loki had claimed his, but it would only be a matter of minutes before they'd need to leave and join the rest.

"It'll be fine," Tony reassured, but Loki would have none of it.

"You do realize that they probably all still hate me more than they like me, right?" Loki said, wondering if Tony had actually thought this through at all.

"I'll get the drinks out and they'll forget their worries in no time," Tony said.

"Half of them don't even _get drunk_, Tony," Loki replied, with a sneer and Tony had been about to give him a stern look, when a smile accidentally broke free. "What?"

"You called me Tony."

"Well yes, that's your name." But Loki knew just as well as Tony what it implied that he'd called the Engineer by his actual name. It meant that they were, at least to Loki's subconscious mind, equal. It meant that Loki trusted him enough and that Tony allowed that. "Can't I just stay here?"

"You're acting like a child, now, come on." A kiss and a tug on his arm and they were out, Loki only silently protesting, but containing himself once they were in view of the others. Clearly a tantrum was not what he wanted to be caught throwing. No, he needed to come across decently, possibly even witty, but most of all he simply wished to earn some of their liking. Respect would follow, possibly, but that wasn't what it was about. That was merely a distant dream, despite the fact he _still _felt above every one of them, in some kind of way. Loki knew perfectly well he'd blow the opportunity before he would get to respect, but for now he could dream about it. He could dream about being with Tony forever, even when he knew it wouldn't last. Nothing ever lasted, after all. These clearly weren't the thoughts he should be having right now, though.

As Tony stepped closer to Banner to ask him a few things Loki was left to stand awkwardly at a distance of the group. It was therefore only logical that Thor would step towards him, having noted his little brother's insecurity. Even after having spent so much time apart, living entirely different lives, Loki couldn't deny that Thor was best at reading him, when he wasn't trying too hard to hide it.

"This isn't awkward at all, why would you think so?" Loki muttered once Thor was close enough for him to whisper so he wouldn't be heard by the others. Thor chuckled at that.

"I can imagine you must be feeling out of place, but then again, you have always been brilliant at that part, haven't you?"

"If you are seeking to pick a fight, I suggest you wait with it until we find ourselves alone and you won't embarrass yourself in front of... _your friends_."

"In other words;" Thor replied, "you do not wish for me to embarrass _you_ in front of those you wish would accept you as one of them."

Loki looked up at Thor in a way that told him that Thor couldn't know anything about this, but that only implied to Thor that his words had been correct. Everyone was already involved in conversation, though Rogers, which he should start thinking of as Steve, was alone, looking around the place in an amused manner, despite how he must have been here several times. It seemed that both he and Thor could never get used to the otherworldliness of the Stark Tower.

Thor soon guided his little brother towards the currently lonesome Captain and the two of them sat down near to him, Loki sitting the furthest away, as he would. "How are you enjoying yourself on Midgard?" Thor asked Rogers, who smiled a little in return. "The change must still be strange to you."

"I'm getting used to it, at least, I'm being forced to," Rogers replied, smiling at Thor. It was logical that Thor felt a connection to Rogers and Loki could relate to it. For years on end he'd put himself above anyone, so much he would never even consider relating to anyone. How could he now just change that? One thing at a time, Tony being the first. "I'm starting to understand the inside jokes, slowly."

Thor let out a soft laugh. "I have a lot of things to catch up on. A lot of the humour these days seems to originate from either the television or the internet," Thor spoke and Loki found it mildly entertaining to hear Thor speak of things like that, though was still way too nervous to say anything.

"I think it's a matter of building up some sort of knowledge of movies and shows, but there are so many that I'm not sure where to start," Rogers replied. Thor nodded to that, clearly knowing the feeling and Loki had to admit, he knew it too. The only difference was that he didn't actually care to understand Midgardian humour. He was perfectly okay and satisfied with his own sense of humour. He would certainly ensure that Tony would come eye to eye with it often. He wouldn't be the God of Mischief if he would keep it all to himself, after all.

"What are you thinking about?" Thor asked him suddenly and he looked up, realizing his thoughts had trailed off. He looked up into Thor's eyes, who clearly knew he'd been contemplating things he shouldn't be. He was getting really bad at casually hiding things from Thor while simultaneously wanting to be liked by everyone. He could be the icy being he'd always been.

"I was merely contemplating my next move," Loki replied, lightheartedly. He let his eyes flick to Rogers, who didn't seem to like the sound of his words, which caused him to snigger softly, which probably didn't help the distrust he needed to overcome.

"You better have some dignity, brother," Thor spoke. "It is unwise to put to the test these bounds, when you have not yet sealed them properly."

"It is not your place to worry," Loki replied. "Have I not shown where my alliance lies?"

"You have," Thor spoke, probably sensing the tenseness that would soon possibly corrupt them, which meant they would be wise to cease their bickering, before it would get out of hand. "Yet, I do not trust your minor tricks, especially not with magic at your disposal."

"Ah, but you like them!" Loki said, realizing that now he had his magic back he had the entire world of trickery at his command once more. He could truly do anything he wished, within reason of course... _boring_. That was certainly a good thing and a brilliant thought. "You would not possibly deny me of what is in my nature, would you? That would be denying _me_, Thor. And it is my trickery that saved us, prior, so you should concede."

"I will not allow it," Thor replied. "But that does not mean I will not find it... amusing." At that Loki laughed, though he realized that Rogers had been listening in and didn't seem as pleased with the outcome as the two brothers were.

"I actually think Loki should be made to use his magic for important causes only," the Captain spoke. "He should not use it for personal gain, when it is clear he has bad ideas on his mind."

"Trust me," Thor replied, "even without his magic he is the best trickster all of the nine realms have ever known."

Loki, of course, took that as a compliment. He and Thor shared a look that made him think a lot of when the two were younger and they still played pranks together. If only Thor hadn't shadowed him, their relationship could have remained somewhat similar.

The conversations in the room all went on when Barton looked up and turned to Tony: "What's the idea for food?"

The short notice of the 'feast' had left them with a lack of idea for food, though that didn't seem to bother Tony so much. "I'll go and get some food now. I'll need Loki to carry it all back, though. That's what you get when you're the noob." Loki obviously didn't get the reference, but took it with annoyance anyway. However, any reason to get away from here was a good one. "How big is everybody's appetite?"

The most replied with something along the lines of 'big', including Thor, which meant that Tony was going to have to get buckets and buckets of whatever he was going to get. Loki got up and left with Tony, the words 'thank you' lying on his tongue, but he didn't speak them. More to tease Tony now than that he was actually ashamed of saying it.

"What do you fancy?" Tony asked, looking at Loki. "I was thinking of getting shoarma, for tradition's sake," he said and Loki frowned, not so sure what they he was talking about. "After we brought you down, got shoarma," he said nodding and Loki looked quite offended. "Perhaps including you in the eating of shoarma would make quite a statement."

"What about Bruce?" Loki then asked, realising that shoarma wasn't vegetarian and somewhere over the past weeks, he'd picked up the knowledge that Banner didn't eat meat. Tony then stopped and looked at him, nodding.

"You're starting to think of others already, good," he smiled. They had taken the elevator and now were on their way to the garage; a part of the building Loki had not yet seen. "Now, Loki, welcome to my girls," he spoke, switching the light on that lit up the entire garage, showing a vast amount of card. He grinned and led Loki over his silver Audi A7.

Upstairs, just after Tony and Loki had gone they had fallen silent and they all seemed to be thinking of exactly the same things. "So, Tony and Loki?" Natasha then proposed, looking around everyone. They nodded a little, frowned, then nodded more. "Do you think...?"

Again a silence fell and they all looked at each other. "No... right?" Clint spoke, but his voice sounded in no way convinced.

"Maybe they just found a really good friend in each other," Bruce spoke, who certainly knew more on the matter, though knew that both Tony and Loki wouldn't appreciate everyone finding out. It would be a matter of time only until they would. On the other side, leading them to the truth might help them out a bit.

"But this is Loki we speak of," Thor started, "Loki doesn't make friends."

"Nobody said that it was easy," Natasha told him, raising her eyebrows. "It sounds strange to me, but it looks like nothing else. Loki sacrificed himself to save Tony," she said, frowning a little.

"It could have been a trick for Loki to get his magic back," Rogers then spoke, clearly not buying the fact that Loki indeed was on their side entirely.

"Redemption of magic cannot be a selfish act," Thor explained.

"Tony didn't like him staying at SHIELD," Natasha stated.

"The way SHIELD treats people is sickening," Bruce replied. "And like I said, I believe they found a friend in each other."

Little did they know that Tony had Loki sprawled on his back over his Audi down in the garage, rubbing his hands over Loki's torso below his clothes, kissing him firmly. All Loki did was grasp Tony back and wrap his arms around his hips to bring him closer. He already longed for the feeling of having him inside, so close to him. He truly couldn't wait until they were alone again that night and he could show Tony, with his magic, who truly was boss.

"Still, the way Tony behaves around him is strange," Natasha spoke, looking sideways at Clint. "He's like a puppy, running after Loki everywhere."

"Loki does possess the charms of an Asgardian God, of course," Thor spoke, to which Natasha raised her eyebrows

"And the danger of a criminal..."

"Maybe Tony finds that exciting," Clint joked. Steve was wisely keeping himself out of the conversation, for he truly didn't find it important, nor near to entertaining. There wasn't much that he found entertaining, after all. "Just hope he doesn't get all smoochy with him."

"I think they just get along quite well," Bruce spoke, stepping down from the counter to sit down in the living room with them. "Anyway, Tony is very picky with his friends."

"Yes, that's what worries me," Clint replied. They all knew Clint didn't like Loki in the slightest. In fact; he hated Loki a lot.

"You should grant him a chance," Thor spoke, looking at Clint.

"I feel little for that," Clint replied, quite bitterly, though also far from interested. He simply didn't want to discuss this any further. It even seemed like he thought less of Tony because of him spending time with Loki the way he did. Of course, that was very childish, but out of all of them, Clint had all the right to be angry with Loki for what he'd done.

"I didn't know Tony had a liking for men, though," Steve then spoke, that being a pretty logical thing to say, for none of them actually did.

"Just because they've lived together, doesn't mean they're suddenly...," Clint made a gesture with his hands to imply involvement, the look on his face even showing that he was slightly disgusted. "I really don't want to thi-"

"Maybe when Pepper left him he changed his mind," Natasha spoke, turning towards Clint, slapping him lightly across the arm. Natasha wasn't keen on Loki in the slightest, but she trusted Tony enough to have good judgement, this time.

"I don't think you just change your mind like that," Bruce laughed softly, shaking his head as this conversation really was silly. It was none of their business.

"Where my brother finds love is none of my, nor our, area to comment on. We should be happy for him that he has found one who accepts him the way he is," Thor then spoke, to which they all went silent. He had quite the point there.

"I wonder what Stark is getting. There are many foods of Midgard I have not yet tried. I'd like to try them all, of course!" Thor smiled with an enthusiasm only he could show.

"It's taking them quite a while. It's either busy, or it's fancy... I think we should go for busy," Natasha spoke. Tony only went to lengths of arranging something fancy if it was entirely necessary.

Soon they were back at the Tower, still quite heated from their kiss down in the garage, but Loki felt little for having to go back up there. Things would just get more and more awkward, now they'd all had time to talk about him while he was off.

"You worry too much," Tony said as they were getting out of the car. And it was probably true. Still, he had the right to worry, had he not? He might have redeemed his powers and he might not be restricted from lying, which meant he could basically manipulate anyone into thinking anything. At the same time that meant he needed to be incredibly careful not to destroy what little trust people had in him. He knew he shouldn't care about such things, but it certainly meant being somewhat at peace with Tony and that was definitely worth it.

"They all hate me, really," Loki said as they were on their way to the elevator. "At the very least they dislike me."

"It'll change," Tony replied. "I hated you too, remember."

"Yes, but you are deluded. Not that I'm complaining, but you are," Loki stated. They stepped in the elevator and it would only be another minute before they would be back where the rest was waiting for the food. Hopefully for the coming few minutes they'd be too busy eating to devote any of their time to Loki, who'd just try to stay out of as much conversations as he could.

"Just keep your snappy remarks to yourself and you'll do fine," Tony said.

"That basically means I won't be speaking all night."

"Well, if that's what it takes," Tony replied with a shrug. He shot Loki a bemused smirk, before the doors opened and they stepped into the room. All eyes were on them immediately and it was awfully quiet. Loki rolled his eyes, though didn't make any remark as he felt it would probably be very inappropriate to do so after the conclusion Tony had just made. Instead, Tony made the remark for him: "I see you've all had a wonderful time talking about me." Loki was glad he hadn't said 'us', as that would have certainly been awkward.

"Well, you always have been an interesting topic of discussion," Bruce replied, clearly trying to wave it all away and start anew with a conversation that wouldn't lead to Tony and Loki's sex life. Yes, it wasn't difficult to tell that that was where they conversation had revolved around. Thor's relieved expression at their return, for instance, was quite the cue.

They put the bags down on the table and immediately everyone was tearing them open, obviously hungry. Loki, who had been carrying the bag that contained most of Bruce's food put it down in front of him, though didn't speak a word. Just because he was being friendly didn't mean he was friendly or so much as liked these people, after all. No, it just meant that he didn't care for being unfriendly for the moment. That was exactly how it worked.

"Shoarma, really?" Clint asked, though he seemed quite amused by the given. He even shot Loki a somewhat belittling look, despite knowing better than that. Loki looked straight back at him, not in the slightest intimidated. Oh, there were so many things he wanted to say, but he kept quiet.

"I mean, you did tell him, right?" Romanov continued, somewhat doubtfully whether it was a good idea at all to mention the whole eating-shoarma-while-just-having-captured-Loki thing.

"Sure," Tony replied. "Would be mean if I hadn't."

"Right..." Romanov replied, though she didn't seem too sure about the matter. Loki, in fact, didn't care at all. Tony was quite glad to see that, as it made things quite a bit easier. On the other hand, it wasn't half as much fun. "And how exactly did you tell him?"

"Of course I didn't quite mention the many jokes we made about him being in the back of that truck, out by the overdose of anaesthetics. And the imprint he'd left in my floor. And, well, how he'd been a bit stupid and slacky to begin with."

Loki's eyes were burning as he turned to look at Tony, who figured he'd gone far enough. He patted Loki on the shoulder, before stepping towards the kitchen to get out the first few bottles of alcohol. A moment later the receiver of Loki's fierce gaze was Thor.

"I bet you were enjoying yourself," Loki sneered angrily, voice not much louder than a whisper. Thor, who'd been about to stuff his face, looked up.

"I did not pay attention to most of their chattering," he replied. "I was too busy consuming the delicious food. You should try it, brother." But surely Thor knew Loki didn't like eating with strangers close.

"Thor, if I recall correctly," Clint spoke then, not taking Natasha's warning seriously. "You made quite a few good jokes yourself." He received another good shove from Natasha, but enough had been said and Loki was clearly furious.

"Perhaps a few, but none were meant seriously," Thor spoke, looking up at his brother while chewing his food. "Sit, brother, please, you must eat this food."

"Or don't you dare?" Clint laughed and got a shove in his ribs by Natasha. Loki then turned away and went for the door. "Can't handle a little-"

"Clint!" Tony shouted, his hand slamming down on the table. "Shut up will you! And Loki, don't you dare walk out of this room," he spoke, pointing his finger at Loki. "We're not kids anymore, so Barton, stop acting like one. Don't you understand that this may be very hard for Loki?" Loki rolled his eyes, not wanting anyone to know that he may find this hard. "To all of us, Loki may still seem 'evil', but Clint, he saved you and the same goes for Bruce," he said. "If it weren't for Loki, I may be dead. I forgave him for what he did, why can't you?" Tony asked, his eyes specifically on Clint.

"Maybe because _you _fell in love with him and we didn't," Clint sneered, his voice sounding fierce, aggressive. Tony's eyes narrowed and he turned towards Barton. "Don't pretend like it's not true, Stark. You fell for that loser and now you want us to do the same."

"If you don't stop right now, Clint, the party goes on without you," Tony said and from out of the corner of his eye he could see how much difficulty Loki had with having to contain himself.

"Tonight is about bonding," Bruce spoke. "Nobody expected it to go well from the start, but we're expected to behave reasonably," he spoke, defending both Clint and Tony, and thus Loki too.

"I believe it is still my choice whether or not I bond with someone," Clint spoke, giving Bruce a look that clearly stated he wasn't amused. Loki hadn't moved away from standing close to the door, though at least hadn't made another move towards leaving, probably knowing Tony would get sufficiently angry if he did.

"Of course," Tony replied, annoyedly, "but at the very least you can shut your mouth about what you think of him, so we have the freedom to form our own opinions." What was this even about? Hadn't they all agreed to give this a try from the moment they'd arrived here? Tony understood that Clint would have his grudges towards the God, but that didn't mean he needed to act like an asshole, when the God was the reason he was here in the first place.

"Don't tell me he actually cares what I think of him," Clint said, talking about it as if Loki wasn't even there in the room with them. "He doesn't care about anything. You know, he'll only end up hurting you."

"_That's_ a blunt assumption to make," Loki spoke up suddenly, voice sneering and tones sharp and intimidating. His words followed by a silence and Loki took the opportunity to slowly step back towards the table, eyes never leaving Clint's, who stood up from the table in a second. "As I recall it, Barton," Loki started, voice calm and certainly thrilling, "it was you who explained to me your story and the makings of your mind, not the other way round. You might wish you have come to understand me in that little time we shared, but this is not so. I would've been a fool to entrust information to one I knew could end up running back to his friends."

"Don't speak to me as if _you_ know everything!" Clint spoke. "Whoever you've spoken to, it was not me."

"No, I agree to that," Loki spoke and a moment later he was smirking. "But they certainly had your past and your stories. Your heart, your feelings."

"Loki-" Tony started, though Clint interrupted him.

"You are sick and so very unworthy of our friendship. You should be glad you have Tony and enjoy every second of it, because you will ruin it. You will make a stupid mistake and lose him. That's what your kind does, right? You get arrogant and sloppy and you think the world is yours."

"How dare you make assumptions about me?" Loki sneered, his eyes narrowing. "I don't know if you've noticed, but I am here for all of you. I don't want to be here, I don't want to have to prove myself worthy, for I don't care what you all think. But apparently it is important, so I've made an effort to come here and provoke as little havoc as possible. All you do it try to make me look bad," he sneered. "But it's easy for you, because you're already safe in this game. You are an Avenger, you have your life laid out for you."

"Don't make me feel sorry for you," Clint replied. Tony was looking at the both of them, his eyes turning to Thor, then to Bruce. He let out a soft sigh, rubbing at his temples, not so sure what to do.

"Shut it!" Steve suddenly shouted, slamming his hand down on the table as he spoke. "Clint; sit. Loki; you too. No more shouting, you sound like bickering teenagers. Stop it," he spoke and, being the Captain Steve was, everyone listened to him and Steve stayed upright. "We all have our differences, our problems with each other. I don't like Loki, or trust him for that matter, but that does not give me any right to treat him in a disrespectful manner. Clint, you are a reasonable man; act like one. And now to all of us; just eat," he said, sitting back down. Silence fell and slowly everyone was eating again, well, again counted for all except for Thor, who'd never stopped eating. "Thank you," Steve spoke when everyone was finally silent. He saw how Tony turned towards Loki.

"If you don't want to eat, we can save it for later," Tony spoke softly, his hand moving to Loki's forearm, squeezing it softly. Now Clint had already made the assumption that Tony indeed was in love, there was little point in hiding it.

Loki tried not to be affected by it and hoped that no one had actually understood what Tony had said. It was a relief though, knowing that Tony didn't expect him to eat with these people here. Sitting at their table already was sufficiently awkward enough to provide him with for a lifetime.

Everyone had started to drink, but few of them were notably affected by it. Tony, who drank most of all, was soon happily talking away with Bruce, which meant that Loki truly had no distraction. If only he could have Tony to speak to, he might not come across so weirdly. Not that he truly cared. He just wanted this to be over with.

"Brother!" Thor spoke up joyfully from across the table and Loki's eyes shot up to meet his, annoyance clear in them, yet this was easily ignored by Thor, who didn't seem to be bothered by it at all, let alone change what he was going to say because of it.

"Do you remember the Battle with the seven-legged monsters in the realm of Vannaheim?" Thor asked. "The way they kept coming and coming, but we, as proud Asgardians, fought them all one by one!" Thor cheered, his drink slopping over the edge of his cup, for he had demanded a cup and didn't want a glass like Tony had given all the rest of them.

Preferably Loki had already left this 'feast' before Thor tried to string some weird conversation about their past into this for the sake of telling the others more about them, which Loki certainly didn't want. It was now, however, way too late.

"I wasn't there," Loki spoke, his eyes glued on Thor's. Thor already had had his mouth open to continue his story, but he shut it now as Loki spoke.

"Don't be silly, all descendants, relatives and friends of the Allfather were present! All the strongest warriors!"

"I wasn't there," Loki spoke again, his voice firmer this time. Thor just frowned, then turned back to Steve and continued his story:

"We wiped out the entire race!" Thor spoke, "all the residents of Vannaheim were saved, all because of the Gods of Asgard! It was so very glorious! You should have seen the feast we had afterwards."

Loki just sighed, looking down. Ah, again his presence didn't matter. _He _didn't matter, for Thor didn't even know whether he had been there or not. This again proved that he truly was worthless and he took this moment to disappear to the bathroom, for he didn't want to be faced with all these people who he didn't matter to, who didn't matter to him.

He stared at his reflection for a while but found that he knew himself even less than before he'd retrieved his magic once more. Perhaps it would have been easier if he had died. No, no, he'd had to save Tony and he had done. Yet, now that they were here and Loki felt so very distant from whatever it was that motivated them to do their good, he figured it might be a good idea to reconsider.

This magic, it would help him in taking back all that had been taken from him, but it would not help him to get back what he truly wanted to have. He wanted Thor to recall memories which they truly _had_ spent together. He wanted Thor to speak of them just because of that reason, because it made him think back of good times. Times that weren't glorious or special or grand at all, but simply good, because they had been together and had enjoyed each other's presence. Loki knew that it wasn't Thor's fault that he never spoke of these things, as it was Loki that had ruined the memories for him. It was Loki who had changed for the worse.

And now he was back here again, his magic restored and just as ready as ever to use it for all the right things, with all the good intentions he had on his mind. Yet, there was no way he was going to succeed. So, the only reason he'd redeemed his powers was to have them be stripped away again or to die having fallen once more.

He was immortal again, which meant he could not even decide over his own life like he had done all this time. He could not be with Tony as equals, for they were no longer equals. Fear struck him fair and square and he could feel the remains of the wound he'd caused, although no longer visible, in his chest. It stung with regret, regret that he'd done it in the first place and then regret that it hadn't worked out, that he hadn't seen this through to the end.

He stepped back from the reflection, listening to the voices outside. Voices that reminded him so much of when he was younger and still welcome in Asgard. But that was the funny thing, wasn't it? He'd never been a part of anything. Just like he'd always been back then, he was an outsider now and he did not even dare step back through that door and face them once more. They knew he didn't fit in and they tried nothing to change it. Why would they? They were perfectly okay without his company there. In fact, it was probably a relief to not have him around.

They were childish thoughts, a lot of these, but they were the truth. Some things were fundamental and it didn't matter how many days you'd lived, how much experience you had dug up, it was _always_ the same: people liked to be amongst similar minds.

But there was one thing now that was not the same as it had been back then and that was that he had found true love in one of the people he'd first seemed to hate. He felt regret in having said yes and not having continued to deny Tony what he wanted, but he couldn't. He had been selfish to take Tony and let him show Loki that there was love for him. He was always selfish and like Barton had said, he _would_ break it, as nothing he ever held dear remained in one piece.

"Loki?" Thor's voice sounded at the other side of the door. Loki sighed softly, disappointed that it wasn't Tony that had come for him. "Loki, are you alright in there?"

"I don't want to talk," Loki replied with a sigh.

"You don't have to talk," Thor spoke, to which Loki let out a sigh.

"It's a feast, of course we have to talk," Loki replied and as Thor knocked again, Loki opened the door and let him inside. He didn't like how he'd done that, but Thor seemed to be in a reasonable mood.

"I heard a lot from Heimdall, what you have done and what you have been going through... and I want to say that I am proud of you," Thor said, his large hands clasping onto Loki's shoulders. "Not necessarily because you have redeemed your powers, even though I am proud of you because of that too, but because I know that you have found something you never have before," Thor spoke. "And you have opened yourself to it."

"And what's that?" Loki asked, though knew what he was going to say.

"You have found love where you believed there was only hate and misery. You have seen the light somewhere you thought there was none. You have done well and been well," Thor spoke, "apart from some slips..." Thor's eyes moved down to Loki's chest, then up to his eyes again. "I do not forgive you for trying to harm yourself, for I care for you a lot, my dear brother," Thor smiled. "But I do want to say that I am proud that you have found yourself a companion."

"I wouldn't exactly call him that," Loki muttered softly, still annoyed with the fact that Tony hadn't come for him, but also annoyed by the fact that Thor had been spying on him. Well, it couldn't have been any different, could it?

"He is a good man," Thor added, patting his brother on the shoulder. "Now, come through, please, we all have something for you."


	19. Chapter 19) Presents

**A/N: Thanks for all the lovely comments! **

**Chapter nineteen) Presents**

Loki had wanted to say more, but hadn't been granted the chance as Thor pulled Loki along to the room where everyone was gathered. On the coffee table were seven separately wrapped presents, standing upright like books would, the numbers one to seven written on the spine of the books.

"These are all for you, brother. Sit down and start at one."

He hesitated for the longest of moments, for he was now in the center of attention and he didn't want to be, not even in the slightest. He hated this, everyone looking at him, seeing what he was doing and what was happening. Tony came to sit beside him on the couch and he placed a hand on the God's knee, cracking a smile at him. "Go on, open the first one." Everything just got more awkward at that, as now everyone was staring at Tony's hand too and probably thinking mutliple things that Loki didn't want to know.

Loki did as he was told and took the first book from the table. He took the wrapping paper off and revealed a book that he already knew, the book that he had been reading and had loved so terribly. "I don't know if you're staying, but if you are, Loki, then this is to get you used to Midgardian literature... and if you are going, then it is for you to remember it," Tony spoke, though it was clear it hurt him somewhat to say the latter. They hadn't discussed his possible departure after all. "Open it."

Loki did, revealing writing on the very first, blank page:

_Dear Loki,_

_Congratulations with redeeming your magic, now you can play more tricks on me. Thanks for saving me and all that jazz. I can't wait to show you where the magic truly happens._

_Love,_

_Tony_

Loki shut the book again and kept his eyes on it, which was now truly his. He didn't know what to say. He wasn't used to showing gratitude and frankly couldn't get himself to say it with all these people around. "Go on, open the next," Tony smiled and Loki put the book down on the couch beside him, reaching out to the second book which he revealed by tearing off the paper. 'The Chamber of Secrets'.

_Loki,_

_Congratulations. I know you already have finished this, but my children wanted you to have it. I hope that our next meeting will be non-existent, or at least be in a long time. Unless you decide to come round for a cup of tea. If that is the case, you are welcome._

_Agent Phoebe Dirx of S.H.I.E.L.D._

On the page it had a few scribbles that must have been made by the agent's children. He read his name a few times and there were things that looked like stick figures. He had no idea what to say, but he was grateful. He'd never received presents, especially not anything he actually liked, unless it was something to do with a rank in Asgard. He was usually quite pleased with the power he was granted there.

The third was from Steve and didn't say much. 'Thanks for helping out. Well done. I'd like to work with you again. Steve.' was all it said and more than Loki'd expected. Well, he'd not expeted anything. It was most likely forced onto all of them by Tony, so it didn't mean so much... but they _had _done it and that truly surprised him.

The next was from Natasha and it said something about Loki needing to make it clear to the Silver Demon that they truly were _not _dating, nor in love, nor interested in any way. He found it amusing, for all their words had a kind undertone to it, a slight accepting undertone, even...

The fifth book was from Clint; the Order of the Phoenix and said nothing. He was quite grateful for that too, as it would simply have been awkward after the short, but fiery, discussion they'd had before.

The sixth was from Bruce:

_Loki,_

_Please try to avoid life-threatening situations in the future. Thank you and well done._

_Bruce_

Loki found it kind that they had all put effort into these messages and he turned to Tony, knowing the last one was from Thor, as it must be. He was overwhelmed by all of this, by the fact that people, except Clint of course, had written something for him, even though it was only short. He was even overwhelmed by the fact that Tony realised how much he loved these books and that he now had them all! He couldn't wait to continue to read them.

He, nervously, opened the last book and saw that there was a letter stuck inside the book. Ah, Thor had written a novel. He'd read that another time, for now he felt too nervous to concentrate on the words and he knew that Thor would understand. He didn't want to spend ages reading a letter and then not dare to say anything, or not know what to say.

"So, that should keep you off the streets for a while longer," Tony said, probably realizing Loki wasn't going to say anything and wanting to ease his suffering by making up for the silence. He looked at Tony, the gratitude probably clear in his eyes to the Engineer, but not to the rest of them. He didn't want the others to know how much this meant to him, after all. On the other hand, he didn't want to be rude and come across like he simply ignored all their effort. They'd reached out to him and he would be wise to accept this and respond to it, no matter the difficulty he had in doing so. Yet, he had no idea what to do or say. No words seemed the right ones.

"You don't have to say anything," Tony said then, probably realizing Loki's struggles perfectly well. Thor would too, but he probably didn't quite know how to resolve the situations. He was quite the one for good manners, after all, and Loki wasn't showing any at the moment.

"I do," Loki replied then, not yet looking at anyone but Tony. "I do need to say something, but I feel you-" and with that he looked around the rest of the group, ensuring that they understood they were included in the 'you' "-have momentarily rendered me speechless." Even Clint seemed to understand that making a snide remark in return to that wasn't such a good idea and thus he kept his 'a simple thank you would've done' to himself. "Excuse me," Loki then spoke a moment later, when it became apparent no one was going to reply to his words. He stood up, taking the letter from Thor with him and stepped to his room. He had the feeling he didn't want to read this, but at the same time it was as good an excuse as any to leave the room.

When he found himself alone he let out a sigh of relief, though he knew everything was far from over. Things just seem to get more and more awkward around here and he knew, for a fact, they'd not had their last row, nor their worst. He would fall again and again and he would have to be stopped each time, he knew that. He needed to be taken down, just like the Silver Demon had been. Thus, he could never rise to the power he was supposedly to reach. The power he had been promised through nights and nights of torture; power he believed he _wanted_, but knew deep down was nothing more than a prosperous nightmare of a man he'd never happily be.

Loki looked down at Thor's letter that he had put lots of effort into, by the looks of it, for his handwriting was quite neat and small. There were lots of pages. Though, he didn't actually want to read the letter, for Thor was here. Why would he want to read something, that'd make him think of Thor, while Thor was present and he didn't even want to think of Thor?

Moments later, he found himself stuffing the letters away in the bedside table. He'd imagined himself tearing it up and throwing it on the floor in lots of tiny little pieces and he didn't want to. He figured he'd keep it safe from himself, while he turned to curling up on the bed. Without as much as a knock, the door opened and by the sound of the footsteps, he knew it was Thor and he shot upright in bed. "Brother," Thor spoke, walking to Loki's bedside. He sat down on the edge, then turned towards him. "You are doing well, tonight."

"No, I'm not," Loki sneered. "I hate this, I hate it all, I don't want them here, nor you. I want everyone to just leave me alone, nobody likes me anyway."

"That's not true," Thor replied, leaning towards Loki. He cupped his brother's head in his hands and pressed a soft kiss to his forehead, which Loki found quite inappropriate, but Thor evidently didn't. "You are doing a great job." Loki sighed at that, though realized Thor would not change his mind anyway.

"Just because I haven't tried to kill anyone doesn't mean I'm doing a good job," he replied. Besides, if _this_ was doing a good job, he wondered how much more pain he needed to go through before he'd finally be accepted. Every single thing he was doing he was doing against his will, after all and it was starting to become quite impossible. It all seemed so useless. He had Tony and he didn't want anyone else.

Thor sat down beside him, looking at the nightstand for a moment, almost as if he knew that was where the letter had gone. Loki felt a pang of guilt, though it was easily ignored when he reminded himself just how often Thor had been the cause of his pain, jealousy and hatred. He wondered whether he had mentioned it in the letter and whether he even wanted to find out if he had. "Brother," Thor spoke, trying to gain Loki's attention that was clearly straying all over the place, but towards him. "I know you are fearful of them. You started out as their enemy, it is expected. Besides this, you are fearful of most, are you not?"

"Why would I be scared?" Loki replied, rolling his eyes, though realizing perfectly well that Thor was right and that he, again, had made an observation Loki wished he was too stupid for.

"You are afraid that you'll do or say something that will have them laughing. You are fearful that you might do the wrong things and lose what respect you have. Their judgement, in short, is what you are scared of."

"I don't care what they think of me, why would their judgement matter a thing?" Loki asked.

"Maybe you care more for what they think than you are aware of yourself," Thor said, after which he followed, "besides, you care what Tony thinks of you and they are his friends." Ah, that stung. That stung _badly_, as Loki knew exactly where Thor dug up such accusations. It was one of those things Loki had bluntly yelled out when he was still young and inexperienced and Thor had once again asked him to join something he didn't want to join in on, while simultaneously he was terrified of not being a part of.

"Whatever," he spoke, when he couldn't find himself to lie to Thor. What was wrong with him? Why couldn't he just be blunt to everyone so they all thought nothing of him and he could get on like he always did? But he didn't want that... All he wanted was to be the good person Tony saw him as, to everyone.

"It's important to know where your feelings come from, so you can solve your problems," Thor spoke, his voice sounding sweet, but his words sounding very accusing.

"I don't have problems, Thor," he sneered, though he didn't look into his brother's eyes when he did.

"Many things in the past have gone wrong that I wish to turn right, but I can't, for you won't accept any of my apologies or words of help, care or reassurance," Thor spoke. "I'm putting effort into trying to get you happy and you ju-"

"Maybe I don't want to!" Loki then shouted, his eyes full of fear and Thor found himself wondering why, though when Loki's eyes teared up, he figured out the reason. "Maybe I don't want to go through the hassle of trying something and failing anyway. It's in my nature, Thor, King of Asgard. You were always meant to win and I was always meant to lose. To _you_. That's how our lives were, that's how it always will be."

"That's not true, brother," Thor spoke, shaking his head. "That's not true at all."

"Oh, but it is, you are merely blessed by the capability to remain blind to it. That is something else, Thor."

"Loki, your truth has never strung well with mine and we might never know who of us is right. All I'm saying is that this way of thinking will not get you anywhere. It will not help you."

"I've tried everything, Thor," Loki replied. "I've gone to every length to try and change who I am, but that's the _point_. This is who I am," he said, voice softer now. "I am the God of Mischief. I am bound to go against other's morale and therefore I am bound to be disliked. It is my destiny to show what true goodness is, by _not_ being it. I'm your opposition, don't you see? You are good, because I am evil."

Thor let out a soft sigh and pulled his brother closer, his arms wrapping around him. "You mean that if you were to be able to live as a good person, I would need to change?" Thor asked and Loki nodded, his face pressed against Thor's shoulder in his brother's firm grip. He hesitantly took hold of Thor in response. "I am King now, Loki, I cannot change who I am."

"I am destined to suffer," Loki stated. "It is why I chose to take my life, but I was stopped over and over. My suffering will lead me to evil, over and over, unless I kill you and rid myself of my opposite," Loki said, having moved out of the embrace. "Obviously I can't," he reassured. Thor didn't know what to say and tried to hold his brother closer, but Loki objected. "I've played this part for so long, it's fine. I can play it for the rest of eternity," Loki spoke as Thor made no move towards trying to find a way in which Loki would no longer need to be this way.

"You need to find happiness in another place. Perhaps we should never see each other again," Thor replied.

"No, it doesn't work like that," Loki replied, never seeing Thor anymore, would have been a great idea to Loki mere months ago, but he couldn't let go of the only one who knew truly of his makings. "I found happiness here, though I'm still not fulfilled. There is no cure."

"Perhaps you should try it for longer, with your magic back, perhaps you should stay here with Tony," Thor replied. It relieved him to hear it coming from Thor's lips before he needed to speak them himself. He could now even pretend that he hadn't been thinking of it before, but he knew that Thor would look through it, would he pretend.

"That is what I want," Loki replied, but before he could continue Thor interrupted him.

"You will have to come to Asgard with me, before you return here," he replied. "You will have to ask the All-father, for I cannot make this decision on my own. You are a danger still, you say it yourself. With your magic in the middle of all these people, it might go wrong."

"It will go wrong," Loki replied, looking down at the ground. "Thor," he said then, remembering clearly what he had felt when looking into the reflection in the bathroom. "I want my immortality, but I do not want my magic now." Thor seemed surprised at that and Loki was surprised that he'd managed to bring himself to saying it. "I want to be with Tony." And that.

"I understand, my brother," Thor spoke and Loki knew he was being taken seriously. "I think this is a deal that can ensure your stay on Midgard."

"There's just one thing," Loki said then, looking up at Thor. "Just one night. I need my magic for one night. Tomorrow you may take it before you return to Asgard. I do not wish to come with you." Thor considered this, but before he confirmed or declined he asked a question of himself:

"What will you need it for?" Thor asked.

"Is that not a question too personal?" Loki asked, one eyebrow raising as he looked at Thor, who suddenly seemed quite amused, and slightly disgusted at the same time.

"I need to make sure you will not harm anyone," Thor stated then.

Loki laughed softly. "It's only Tony- Now stop invading my privacy," he spoke and for this short moment, it felt like the old times, when they were younger, like they were equals, brother and brother...

"Okay, okay," Thor spoke, his hands moving up to his ears, as if he was already pretending not to listen in. "I'll get Heimdall to-"

"No!" Loki spoke, his hand raising. "No," he said, shaking his head. He got up from the bed. "Now, will you leave?" he asked Thor, wanting to be alone again.

"No, you're coming with me," he said and grabbed Loki, flinging him towards the door. Even with their magic, Thor was stronger. "You're going to have to make the best of that magic now you've still got it," Thor winked.

And oh, did he... He casually managed to turn Barton's drinks into snakes quite a few times and made one go up Natasha's dress, which he found particularly amusing. Pretending he had nothing to do with his tricks was what he was best at. The victims weren't laughing, but the rest truly were and he spent almost the entire night with Tony's arm around his waist, which he thought was very nice, despite how he didn't like to admit that he liked anyone's company, let alone Tony's, who was supposed to be someone he hated.


End file.
